Peter A. Hastings

Settlement Patterns of African Refugee Communities in Southeast Queensland

Abstract Over 4000 African refugees have resettled in Queensland through the Australian governments Humanitarian Program. Research on the settlement geography of this immigrant group is, however, limited. The present study is set within the context of research and debates concerning the residential concentration and/or dispersion patterns of immigrant settlement in Australia. The paper investigates the settlement and secondary migration geography of eight African refugee communities in Southeast Queensland. Discrepancies are identified between the official data and the actual distribution according to community members’ views obtained via focus group surveys and interviews. Preliminary results indicate that there is a relatively high rate of secondary migration in the African communities. The paper also discusses the two key factors underpinning this secondary migration: housing and social networks. These findings have implications for settlement service providers, particularly in the area of housing.

Geography at QUT: Evolution of a Discipline.

The paper focuses on the constraints encountered in developing and introducing a geography discipline programme, with a distinctive regional focus, within a university of technology. Through a case study approach, the analysis relates the development of geography at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to changes in geographical education in Australia. Major obstacles to the evolution of geography within QUT are outlined: practical aspects of working in a multi-campus setting; limited staffing resources; policy obstacles to discipline identification and the downgrading of discipline-based approaches in favour of ‘trans-disciplinary’ majors. Strategies used to overcome these constraints have included: cross-faculty linkages; establishing co-majors in several degree programmes; team-teaching; flexible delivery and the use of online resources. While the establishment and development of the current QUT Geography programme has been difficult at times, the institutional context has provided opportunities to create a distinctive and innovative geography programme.