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Temporary migrant nurses in Australia: Sites and sources of precariousness

Author

Listed:
  • Martina Boese

    (RMIT, Australia)

  • Iain Campbell

    (RMIT University, Australia)

  • Winsome Roberts
  • Joo-Cheong Tham

Abstract

Temporary migrant workers are widely regarded as a precarious group of workers. This precariousness is often traced back to the sphere of employment, though recent research also points to the implications of the limited rights entailed by temporary migrant status. This article draws on empirical work among registered nurses who have participated in the Australian 457 visa scheme – the major programme for temporary migrant workers in Australia. Using a range of empirical sources, including in-depth interviews with 26 temporary migrant nurses, we examine whether these nurses experience precariousness and locate the sites and sources of precariousness. The article draws attention to the importance of the regulatory context that defines different pathways from the country of departure to employment in the Australian healthcare system. We suggest that, although temporary migrant nurses are well integrated within the healthcare workforce in terms of formal wages and conditions, other stages in their migration pathways can be associated with precariousness. This in turn has significant impact on experiences at work and outside the workplace.

Suggested Citation

  • Martina Boese & Iain Campbell & Winsome Roberts & Joo-Cheong Tham, 2013. "Temporary migrant nurses in Australia: Sites and sources of precariousness," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 24(3), pages 316-339, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:24:y:2013:i:3:p:316-339
    DOI: 10.1177/1035304613496500
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Nicola YEATES, 2010. "The globalization of nurse migration: Policy issues and responses," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 149(4), pages 423-440, December.
    2. Jean-Claude Barbier, 2011. ""Employment precariousness" in a European cross-national perspective. A sociological review of thirty years of research," Post-Print halshs-00654370, HAL.
    3. Steven Simoens & Mike Villeneuve & Jeremy Hurst, 2005. "Tackling Nurse Shortages in OECD Countries," OECD Health Working Papers 19, OECD Publishing.
    4. Stefanie Toh & Michael Quinlan, 2009. "Safeguarding the global contingent workforce? Guestworkers in Australia," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(5), pages 453-471, August.
    5. Jean-Claude Barbier, 2011. ""Employment precariousness" in a European cross-national perspective. A sociological review of thirty years of research," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 11078, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
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    Cited by:

    1. Canet Tuba Sarıtaş, 2020. "Precarious contours of work–family conflict: The case of nurses in Turkey," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 31(1), pages 59-75, March.
    2. Dominika Polkowska & Kamil Filipek, 2020. "Grateful Precarious Worker? Ukrainian Migrants in Poland," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 564-581, September.
    3. Diane van den Broek & Dimitria Groutsis, 2017. "Global nursing and the lived experience of migration intermediaries," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 31(5), pages 851-860, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Migrant workers; migration; migration pathways; nurse migration; precarious migrant status; precarious work; s457 visa; temporary skilled migration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J48 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Particular Labor Markets; Public Policy
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers

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