The history of language policy in Australia (specifically of languages other than English) is seen to have undergone three major phases: 1. 'Language as a problem' 2. 'Language as a right' 3. 'Language as a resource' The third phase is described as being based on the notion that languages are national resources, with an economic emphasis. The shift from the second to third phase is said to have occurred in the 1980s and 1990s. In this paper, I will discuss the concept of 'language as a resource' and explore the problems that might occur if Japan adopts this concept in its language policy.

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This paper focuses on the roles and significance of Australia's census survey and citizenship test in a multicultural society. Australia has become a multilingual society through various language policies. In particular, the census survey, which aims at investigating multicultural diversity, and the citizenship test, which seeks social unity, are both recognized as major policies in this regard. However in recent years, the terms diversity, a keyword in describing a multicultural society, and unity, a keyword in upholding traditional norms, as characteristic features of both the census survey and citizenship test, are regarded to be incompatible. Australia currently faces the issue of how these two inconsistent concepts can coexist in the establishment of a post-modern multilingual society. This issue may be an important one for other societies such as Japan, which is moving towards an immigration society. The paper raises a political question by introducing census questions and citizenships test applied in other countries such as the US, Canada, UK, and New Zealand for census survey, and Germany, Denmark and Canada for citizenship test. In addition, it offers some possible suggestions with regard to Japan, which is expected to encounter similar issues in the near future.

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This paper discusses how cultural and linguistic diversity among the Australian healthcare work force impacts the communication in aged care facilities with the aim of eliciting suggestions for Japan. By doing so, it challenges the popular, yet overly simplistic, notion that "Only Japanese can take good care of Japanese". The paper consists of the following two sections: 1) a look at the statistical information mainly from government reports (e.g. The National Institute of Labour Studies (2004) and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2009)) in order to show the general trends of the diversity in discussion, 2) a review of the literature in the area to identify the relevant issues in communication. The first section introduces two factors that contribute to the increased diversity in the Australian work force, namely a shortage of health workers and a high percentage (22%) of non-English speaking elderly in Australia. In particular, it relates to the fact that 25% of the work force either was born overseas or trained at overseas institutions. It also introduces the required English levels (minimum IELTS 5.5 for Aged care worker, 7.0 for nurse), and discusses the process of acquiring qualifications and VISA (if listed in the SOL). It indicates that diversity in the care workers and nurses is made possible by a careful governmental control. The second section discusses prior literature that analyses the communicative issues of overseas born/trained healthcare workers in Australia. It highlights four papers (Jackson 1996, Hawthorne 2000, Omeri 2002, Jeon 2007). In particular, Jackson (1996) and Omeri (2002) show that even nurses who passed a high English requirement face language problems at work, while "Australian nurses hesitate to work with CALD nurses to avoid responsibility in case things go wrong." This suggests that the so-called "language problem" is not merely derived from a "lack of English". These researchers argue that detailed orientations and intensive support could ease the situation. However, these "solutions" still maintain the belief that"Western medical culture is practical and explicit; therefore it is not difficult for CALD nurses to 'learn' it". Also, Hawthorne, argues that although the majority of the research findings indicate that same-culture-care receives predominately positive feedback, there are a few but nevertheless strong negative reactions. From this, we can say that if sharing a culture causes problems, then logically not sharing a culture (cross-cultural care) may help avoid certain problems. The paper concludes with a discussion of Jeon (2007), who says that since there is no literature to suggest any differences in the quality of care between CALD nurses and their domestic counterparts, CALD nurses should be given opportunities to implement their own effective approaches to care. Her view concurs with Kawamura's (2007) claim that the practice of cross-cultural care, regardless of wheater the culture is defined by ethnicity, age or gender, helps people appreciate different values and cultures. I view their arguments as part of an active movement to create a new care-culture that better fits the current and future needs of Australia and Japan.

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Yusuke Tsurumi was a Japanese politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives in the period before and during World War II, and then later as a member of the House of Councilors in the post-war period. In contemporary times, he is acknowledged as a pioneer of "Public Diplomacy". Tsurumi traveled to Australia in 1937, where he made, in his words, a "delightful discovery", namely a "Japanese language learning boom". Following this discovery, Tsurumi continuously examined Japan's external policy vis-a-vis Australia both during the war and in the post-war period. This paper explores the process by which Tsurumi discovered the "Japanese language learning boom" in Australia, together with facts concerning the true nature of this "boom". It also examines how his discovery was subsequently incorporated into Tsurumi's political agenda. This examination aims to uncover the influence exerted by one Japanese language teacher on the words and deeds of a politician.

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Since the 1980s, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of Japanese working holiday makers (WHMs) in Australia. In fact, the proportion of WHMs to the total Japanese population in Australia has also risen, and as a result their contribution to the Japanese community in Australia has started to receive attention. At the same time, however, there has been criticism that the motivation of WHMs is so unfocused that they do not maximize the opportunities for personal development associated with staying in a foreign country. The present study reflects on the reasons for the rapid increase in the number of Japanese WHMs in Australia, and also why their narratives on motivation have tended to become unfocused. In particular, it examines "push factors" that encourage young Japanese people to go abroad, "pull factors"that attract them to Australia, and "mediating factors" that facilitate their travel from Japan to Australia. In relation to the increase in WHMs, previous research on Japanese youth as well as various statistics, surveys, and announcements by the Australian and Japanese governments suggest it is due to a wide range of changes in and characteristics of the two societies. First, in Japan, unstable youth employment, a tendency to marry later, the advancement of a consumer society, and the individualization of the life course seem to operate as push factors. Second, the chance of an extended stay overseas, plenty of opportunities for employment, travel, and English-language acquisition, and the Australian government's commitment to the working holiday program appear to function as pull factors. Third, travel agencies, language schools, the media, and informal networks seem to operate as mediating factors. In terms of the unfocused narratives on motivation of WHMs, three possible explanations are raised. First, it is likely that many WHMs have and mention more than one objective, such as work, study, and travel, which may convey the image that their motivation is not specific. Second, there is a possibility that WHMs are not able to succinctly explain their motivation due to the complexity of their own situations arising from the changes in society. Third, as a result of the difficulty of explaining their motivation to become WHMs, they may use cliches gleaned from the media and travel agencies. In order to investigate the validity of these hypotheses, the paper suggests further research is needed to give an emic account of the situations of Japanese WHMs.

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Demand for tuna has been increasing due to a global sushi boom, changes in diet patterns toward health consciousness in Western countries and the economic development of emerging countries such as China. This trend is an opportunity for the Australian southern bluefin tuna (SBT) farming industry. However, the industry faces serious SBT resource constraints, and the catch quota on juvenile tuna for fattening is strictly limited by the Conservation Committee of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT). Solutions might include an acceleration of SBT resource recovery, and an expansion of the future production capacity for fattening farming. This paper aims to answer this question concerning the resource recovery strategy by applying a surplus production model that represents the reproductive relations of marine resources, and by projecting the future resource trends based on the estimated range of the carrying capacity and the intrinsic growth rate of SBT resources. It was found that resource recovery is unlikely to take place even if the current quota, historically the most strict, is maintained, especially in the cases of relatively large carrying capacities and low intrinsic growth rates. This finding was supported by alternative simulations that assumed further strict catch quotas. Therefore, it is urgent that the industry promotes the development or licensing of full-cycle farming technology that does not depend on wild resources.

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Australia's party system has long been considered a variation of the Westminster-style two party system ("twopartism" in Sartori's terminology). This is because either the Australian Labor Party (ALP) or the conservative coalition of the Liberal and National Parties has been able to form a single majority government since 1909, when two non-Labor parties fused to form the Liberal Party. At the federal election held on 21 August 2010, however, neither party obtained a majority in the House of Representatives. As a result, the ALP led by Prime Minister Julia Gillard formed a minority government with the backing of 4 crossbench members. This paper analyses whether this election outcome points to the realignment of the Australian party system. Realignment is denned as a significant and durable change in voters' party identification and popular support for the parties. In general, there are three types of realignment: (1) existing major parties adjust their policy position to mirror the new political environment; (2) an emerging party replaces an established major party; or (3) a party system is transformed from one type to the other. The paper argues that the third type of realignment is underway in Australia. The ALP appears to have lost a considerable part of its support base, in particular the so-called metropolitan 'postmaterialist' voters, to the Australian Greens. The Labor Party has also faced considerable organisational problems. Organisational reforms are urgently required but the resistance from entrenched powers remains strong. Electorally and organisationally, the ALP may have lost its ability to form a single majority government. By comparing the Australian Greens' performance in the 2010 election with the Australian Democrats' performance in the 1990 election, this paper argues that the rise of the Greens points to the realignment of the Australian party system and thus the end of twopartism. The evidence is still inconclusive, however, because, according to the 2010 Australian Election Study, only two in five Green voters registered an identification with the party. On a more positive note for the Greens, there has been a significant increase in membership and activities of social movements, especially in environmental and civil liberties issues. For instance, while the national membership of the ALP is now down to 35,000, one of such movements, GetUp!, alone boasts 582,000 members, and the Greens are capitalising on this. If the Greens can take votes and seats away from the Liberal Party as well as from Labor, a realignment of the Australian party system from twopartism to moderate pluralism would be confirmed.

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A recent phenomenon of globalization is the movement of people across international borders on a massive scale. In particular, the increase of so-called "skilled migrants" is a rather new phenomenon especially compared to family migration and refugee movement. In Australia, following a change to the Howard coalition government in 1996, the migration policy emphasized "skilled migrants", and as a result started to accept them in large numbers. At the same time, the selection criteria for such migrants was modified in order to attempt to select the most employable migrants in the labor market using a "point test". Skilled migration has become the center of Australia' s migration policy since 1996, as the number of skilled migrants has become more than half the total number of migrants. This policy has continued under the Labor Government since 2007. Therefore, it is clear that skilled migration is now the main pillar of Australia's migration policy regardless of the political party in charge of government. However, as the selection of migrants as "skilled" does not guarantee their actual employment in Australia's labor market, the relationship between "selection" and "employment" is one of the most notable policy challenges in the skilled migration policy. The Howard government tried to maximize skilled migrants' employability by using a "point test", particularly following the temporary downturn of the economy after the Global Financial Crisis. This test was continued under the Labor Government who instituted an "employer sponsored" approach. While the migrants who passed the point test have no guarantee of a job offer and this resulted in employment in the unskilled sector, employer sponsored migrants are expected to take employment under the sponsoring employer. The Labor Government deliberately shifted emphasis to the employer sponsored approach in the skilled migration policy, which limited the chances of application for those not sponsored. This suggests that the nature of skilled migration policy involves the relationship between "selection" and "employment". The skilled migrants are expected to contribute to the host country by "working", but their employment is not guaranteed in the selection process even though it tries to maximize their chances. The Australian Government has been trying to meet this challenge over the last fifteen years.

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