抄録
The Grant-in-Aid Scheme is administered by the Department of Immigration within its framework of Australian migrant settlement and multicultural policy. The Scheme gives grants to migrant welfare organizations so that they can employ workers to help migrants in their quick and effective settlement into Australian society. Although migrant organizations were not the prime grantees at the beginning of the Scheme in 1968, their role in migrant settlement was recognized after the adoption of Australia's multicultural policy in the 1970's when racial barrier in immigration was abolished. As a result, grants to the migrant welfare organisations increased considerably.Increases in grants to migrant organizations were aimed at promoting migrants' "self-help", one of the principles of multiculturalism in its early stages. A review of the multicultural policy in the mid-1980's revealed a number of problems with the self-help principle. The Scheme was adjusted in line with the revised principles of the multicultural policy itself. The cornerstones of the revised policy, defined in the 1989 National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia, were `cultural identity', 'social justice', and `economic efficiency'. Grant-in-Aid Scheme was re-defined as promoting `social justice' by helping migrants to have equitable access to government services and by giving them a suite of information considered necessary for their new life in Australia. In doing so, the Scheme effectively utilized Australia's extensive network of migrant organizations.The significance of the Scheme is that migrants are not only the object of assistance for settlement,but also their potential role and effectiveness in Australian society is widely recognized. The inclusion of the non-government sector for the welfare of migrants is one of the characteristics of Australian migrant settlement policy that emanated from the ideals and principles of multiculturalism introduced in the 1970's. Australia's experience in migrant settlement can be a useful example in the current era of international movement of human beings.
