Immigration and school choice in Australia
JournalAustralian Economic Review
AuthorsAstghik Mavisakalyan
PublishedMarch 2012
PublisherWiley Online
DOI10.1111/j.1467-8462.2011.00663.x
Volume45/1
This article examines the relationship between the share of immigrants in a locality and private versus public school choices of natives and immigrants in Australia. Using the 2001 Australian Census data, it finds that private school attendance among native-born Australians is higher in localities with a higher share of immigrant populations. Immigrants’ private school attendance is lower where the share of their like-type immigrants is higher. These effects vary with the presence of a common language and ethnic background between the natives and the immigrants. Overall, the results suggest the possibility of a ‘flight’ from unfamiliar cultures in the Australian school system.
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre team acknowledges the Wadjuk Nyungar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the Centre is situated.