The Geography of Work-Related Temporary Mobility in Australia

1. The Geography of Work-Related Temporary Mobility in Australia Presentation to the Third International Population Geographies Conference Liverpool, UK 19th-21st June 2006 Elin Charles-Edwards Martin Bell

2. Outline • Background; • Defining temporary mobility; • Past research; • Data; • The geography of work-related temporary mobility; • Migration intensity; • Spatial focusing; • Migration impact; • Circuits of mobility; • Conclusion

3. Background • Australian Research Council Discovery Grant - Understanding Circulation in Australia. • Dramatic rise in the incidence of temporary population mobility over the 20th Century. • In Australia – 6.4 % increase in the number of temporary moves between 1996-2001 (ABS 1996, 2001). • Transformation in the composition and characteristics of temporary mobility in the developed world e.g. rise in mass tourism; decline in seasonal agricultural labour. • No commensurate increase in research on the phenomenon.

4. Defining temporary mobility • Mobility is continuous through space and time necessary to ascribe spatial and temporal limits to facilitate analysis; • Defined as those moves longer than one night, but less than one year, in duration (c.f. diurnal movements and permanent migration respectively) Production-related Consumption-related Business travel Long-distance commuting Fly-in Fly out mining Seasonal work Conferences and Convention Workshops Family visits Excursions Vacations Seasonal migration Study and residential courses Hospitalisation Incarceration

5. Past Research • Research into work-related temporary mobility has focused on the mobility of particular occupational groups: • Long distance business commuters (Green 1999); • Fly-in Fly-out miners (Gilles et al 1993); • Seasonal agricultural labourers (Laut 1967; Hanson and Bell forthcoming); • Trans-national peripatetic professionals (Amit 2002). • These movers represent only a fraction of all work-related moves need for studies summarizing the overall dimensions and characteristics of work-related temporary mobility.

6. Research Approach • Key aspects for scholars interested in exploring work-related temporary at an aggregate level: • Composition and characteristics (e.g. characteristics of movers; function of mobility); • Temporal framework of this mobility (e.g. duration, timing and seasonal pattern of mobility); • Spatiality of temporary mobility (e.g. spatial focusing; impact; and circuits of mobility). This research adopts an explicitly geographical approach to the study of work-related temporary mobility in Australia

7. Data • 1. Census • Conducted on a de facto basis; • Cross-tabulation with the Journey to Work variable produces a proxy measure of work-related movers; • Limitations • Captures mobility only 1 night every five years- difficult to generalise results; • Instantaneous data precludes analysis of temporal dimensions of mobility ( incl. circuits); • 2. National Visitor Survey • Continuous sample~80 000 persons per annum; • Variables include: destination, purpose; duration; timing of trip; • Unit Record data allows circuits of work-related travel to be identified; • Limitations • Designed for tourist industryunder-enumeration of particular groups of movers.

8. Intensity • The overall level work-related temporary mobility in the system • Crude Mobility Rate- measure of the total number of moves as a proportion of the population at risk of moving. • Suggests that work-related temporary mobility in Australia is high by international standards; • Also reflects the geographic size of Australia – prohibits diurnal moves.

9. Spatial Focusing • Degree to which flows are concentrated to, or from, a small number of destinations within a system • Coefficient of Variation: standard deviation divided by the mean of a set of inter-regional flows (0= equality) • More focused than consumption-related mobility; • Concentrated on smaller number of regions; • High spatial focusing of inflows suggests that a few large source regions dominant the system of work-related temporary mobility in Australia.

10. Impact • The effectiveness of work-related temporary mobility at redistributing the population. • Migration Effectiveness Index provides a measure of the system wide impact;

11. Circuits • Sequential pattern of movement. • In contrast to permanent migration, temporary moves often involve stops at multiple destinations; • 11.0 percent of business trips involve stops at multiple destinations (NVS) • Cross-sectional data is unable to capture these circuits of mobility remain one of the most poorly understood dimensions of temporary mobility; • Single displacement • Absolute Flows; • Net Flows; • Net Migration Probabilities (Net flows as a proportion of the population at risk of moving); • Multiple displacement • No established methodology to capture patterns of mobility.

12. Single displacement: Absolute Flows

13. Single displacement: Net flows

14. Single displacement: Net Migration Probabilities

15. Multi-destination Circuits • NVS data enable the analysis to move beyond analysis of single-displacement trips; • Large number of circuits identified in NVS data- analysis is limited to a subset; • Circuits emanating from Sydney; • Circuits emanating from Perth; • Pick up the linkages suggested in analysis of single displacement trips.

16. Circuits: Sydney

17. Circuits: Perth

18. Conclusion • Study adopted an explicitly spatial perspective; • Examination of spatial patterns of work-related temporary mobility suggests the functional attributes of regions; • Primacy of Australian State Capitals; • Redistribution of work-related movers to remote parts of Australia (mining); • Linkages between State Capitals; • Significant scope for further research into the role of work-related temporary mobility in the Australian Space Economy; • Need for further conceptual and methodological work on the measurement of temporary mobility- circuits of mobility.