Conference: The Law and Politics of Migration in Australia
Migration has long played a defining role in shaping Australia’s social fabric, economic development, and political identity. Yet today, questions surrounding border governance, asylum policy, labour mobility, Indigenous sovereignty, and multiculturalism reveal an increasingly complex and contested landscape.
This interdisciplinary conference, jointly organised by Monash University’s Borders, Sovereignty and Justice Lab (Faculty of Law) and the Migration and Mobilities Research Hub (Faculty of Arts), with the support of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, brings together scholars from law, political science, and related fields - including sociology, geography, philosophy, history, and public policy.
Participants will engage in critical discussions on the evolving intersections of law, politics, and migration in Australia, exploring both contemporary challenges and future directions. The event offers a platform for rigorous academic exchange, cross-disciplinary dialogue, and fresh insights into one of Australia’s most pressing and debated issues.
Conference Details:
📅 Date: Thursday 3 - Friday 4 December
⏰ Time: 09.00 am – 04.00 pm
📍 Venue: Monash Law Chambers, Ground Floor Auditorium, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
RSVP: By COB 1 November 2026.
Keynote Speakers:
Professor Susan Kneebone
Susan Kneebone is a Professorial Fellow, and Senior Associate, Asian Law Centre, and Research Affiliate of Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. Susan supervises PhD students on refugee law, statelessness and forced migration and has written widely on law, governance, and forced migration. Previously Susan was a Professor at Monash University’s Faculty of Law where she developed and taught courses on International Refugee Law, Citizenship and Migration Law and Human Trafficking. Susan is currently completing an Australia Research Council (ARC) funded project on: ‘the role of community sponsorship for refugee resettlement in Australia’. Another recently completed ARC project on ‘Indonesia's refugee policies: responsibility, security and regionalism’ led to the publication of Susan Kneebone, Reyvi Mariñas, Antje Missbach and Max Walden, (eds) Refugee Protection in Southeast Asia: Between Humanitarianism and Sovereignty (Berghahn Books, January 2025).
Associate Professor David Hundt
David Hundt is an Associate Professor of International Relations (IR) in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University with expertise in the cognate fields of Asian/Korean Studies, migration studies, and comparative political economy. His research focuses on three broad aspects of contemporary Asia and the Pacific: political economy (the developmental state and varieties of capitalism in Asia), regional security (e.g., comparative responses to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the Korean War as a shaper of regional memory), and the politics of citizenship in Asia (e.g., the lives of Korean migrants in Australia). He has attained competitive research funding to support these projects, including from the Academy of Korean Studies, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Australia–Korea Foundation (DFAT). David has held academic leadership roles in the Asian Studies Association of Australia (including as President and conference convenor), as an assessor for the ARC (2014-), as a member of the National Library of Australia’s Fellowships Advisory Committee, and as Editor-in-Chief of Asian Studies Review.
Conference Program
THURSDAY 3 DECEMBER 2026
8:30-9:00 Registration and Morning Tea
9:00-9:10 Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country
- Matteo Bonotti (Director, Migration and Mobilities Research Hub, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts)
- Samantha Currie (Director, Borders, Sovereignty & Justice Lab, Faculty of Law)
9:10-9:30 Opening Address
- Professor Steven Vaughan (Dean of the Faculty of Law)
- Professor Krista Wiegand (Head of the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts)
9:30-11:00 Panel 1 - Mobility at Australia’s Edges: Borderlands, Corridors and Climate Futures
- Adrian Little (University of Melbourne), Sana Nakata (James Cook University) and Felecia Watkin Lui (James Cook University) - ‘Work, Borders, and Mobility: The Torres Strait as a Fluid Borderland’
- Stephanie Collins (Monash University), Luara Ferracioli (University of Sydney), Zamela Gina (University of Sydney) and Terry Macdonald (University of Melbourne) – ‘Climate
- Migration and Engaged Normative Theory’
- Aashish Yadav (University of Melbourne) - ‘The Future of Tuvaluan Nationality: Rising Seas and Implications for Mobility to Australia’
- Lan Anh Hoang (University of Melbourne) - ‘Digital Borders and Bordering Along the Vietnam–Australia Migration Corridor’
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:45 Panel 2 - Governing Migration, Shaping the Story
- Melissa Phillips (Western Sydney University) – ‘Beyond Silos: Rethinking Migration Research, Governance and Policy in Contemporary Australia’
- Emily Foley (Flinders University and University of Canberra), Zareh Ghazarian (Monash University) and Matteo Bonotti (Monash University) – ‘Party Politics and Australia’s Migration Policy’
- Ogy Simic (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre) and Jana Favero (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre) - ‘Changing the Story: Narrative Change and the Politics of Migration in Australia’
- Maggie Paul (La Trobe University) - ‘Ideal Migrants or Problem Population? The Politics of “International Student” as a Migrant Category in Australia’
12:45-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:00 Panel 3 - Making Home, Contesting Belonging
- Julius Mok (University of Melbourne) and Sow Keat Tok (University of Melbourne) - ‘Regulating Belonging: Legal Frameworks, Public Discourse, and the Contested Work of “Social Cohesion” in Australian Migration Debates’
- Anthea Hancocks (Scanlon Foundation Research Institute and Monash University) - ‘Migration, Inclusion and Public Policy’
- Douglas Wai Tak Choi (University of Melbourne) and Clayton Chin (University of Melbourne) – ‘Where is My Home? Political Alienation and the Political Inclusion of Immigrants as Homemaking’
- Santosh Adhikari (University of Tasmania) - ‘Social Cohesion, Integration, and Structural Barriers: Experiences of Nepali Migrants in Tasmania’
15:00-15:15 Break
15:15-16:45 Panel 4 - Everyday Borders: Precarity, Violence and Unequal Lives
- Bella Choo (University of Melbourne) - ‘The Egalitarian Exception: Disabled Migrants in Australia’
- Kangshu (Kylie) Hu (Monash University) - ‘Dual Precarity: How Geographic Isolation Amplifies Domestic and Family Violence Risk for Chinese-Speaking Migrants’
- Xing Yiping (Monash University)- ‘How China-born Migrants in Australia Manage Everyday Racism’
- Iori Hamada (Monash University) - ‘Between Two Legal Worlds: Japanese Migrant Mothers Navigating Family Law across Australia and Japan’
16:45-17:00 Break
17:00-18:00 Keynote
- David Hundt (Deakin University) - ‘Disempowered but not Disengaged: Korean Australians in an Age of Political Polarisation’
FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER 2026
9:30-11:00 Panel 5 - Protection and its Limits: Refuge, Rights and Deservingness
- Beatrice Alupo (Excelsia University College) and Tony Nyundu (University of Johannesburg)- ‘Constructing refugee Deservingness, Legitimacy, and Belonging: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Australian Media, Political Statements, and Media Commentary between 2015—2026’
- Faiza Idrees (University of New England) - ‘Protection in Process: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Australian Migration Law and Asylum Policy through the Experiences of Ahmadi Refugees’
- Tamara Tubakovic (University of Melbourne) and Kidjie Saguin (University of Melbourne) - ‘Varieties of Refugee Policy Design: The Case of Australia’
- Sonali Walpola (ANU) and John Minas (Monash University) - ‘Protecting Temporary Migrants: The Need for a National Human Rights Act’
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:15 Keynote
- Susan Kneebone (University of Melbourne) - ‘Displaced Persons, creating a ‘settler nation’, multiculturalism and the community: the development of migration policy in Australia’
- Response by Heli Askola (Monash University)
12:15-13:00 Lunch
13:00-14:15 Panel 6 - The Precarity of Movement: Shaping Lives Across and Within Borders
- Regina Jefferies (UNSW) - ‘Contesting the 'Gap' Between Law and Practice: Entry Screening in Australia’
- Swapna Verma (Monash University) - ‘The Rise of Digital Nomadism and Cross-Border Remote Working: Re-examining Australia’s Jurisdictional Taxing Rights for Individuals’
- Dorcas Yeung (University of Melbourne) - ‘Immigration Control and Precarity of Creative Workers in Australia’
14:15-14:30 Break
14:30-15:45 Panel 7 - Migration, Sovereignty and the Settler-Colonial State
- Jessica Hambly and Alexander Titus (ANU) - ‘Chronopolitics and Migration Law in the Australian Colonial-State’
- Francesco Ricatti (Australian National University) - ‘Plural Linguistic Sovereignties and Indigenous Knowledges: A Multidisciplinary Theoretical Challenge to the Monolingual Constitution of Settler Colonialism’
- Jesse Fleay (Monash University) — ‘Indigeneity, Plurality, and the Culture of the Welcome: Rethinking Migration Through First Nations Political Thought’
15:45-16:00 Concluding remarks
Why attend
- Hear current research on migration law, policy, and governance in Australia
- Explore how legal frameworks shape ideas about citizenship, belonging, and identity
- Engage with scholars across law, political science, sociology, and related fields
- Take part in discussion and Q&A across both days
- Build connections with researchers from different disciplines and career stages
Who should attend
- Academic researchers in law, political science, and related fields
- HDR candidates and early career researchers
- Established scholars working on migration or public policy
- Practitioners and professionals with an interest in migration and governance
Organisers
- Monash University Borders, Sovereignty and Justice Lab (Faculty of Law)
- Monash University Migration and Mobilities Research Hub (Faculty of Arts)
Frequently asked questions
Is registration required?
Yes. Registration is required to attend.
Is there a cost to attend?
No. This is a free event.
Event Details
- Date:
- 3 December 2026 at 9:00 am – 4 December 2026 at 4:00 pm
- Venue:
- Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
- Campus:
- Monash University Law Chambers, 555 Lonsdale St, Melbourne
- Cost:
- Free
- Website:
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VvlZS1sYashBtnle_Yejr-PGyXNK-7c5ulV4kp3c6ow/edit?usp=sharing
- Register here:
- https://go.monash.edu/1oidgp
- Categories:
- Research; Castan Centre for Human Rights Law
Description
Migration has long played a defining role in shaping Australia’s social fabric, economic development, and political identity. Yet today, questions surrounding border governance, asylum policy, labour mobility, Indigenous sovereignty, and multiculturalism reveal an increasingly complex and contested landscape.
This interdisciplinary conference, jointly organised by Monash University’s Borders, Sovereignty and Justice Lab (Faculty of Law) and the Migration and Mobilities Research Hub (Faculty of Arts), with the support of the Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, brings together scholars from law, political science, and related fields - including sociology, geography, philosophy, history, and public policy.
Participants will engage in critical discussions on the evolving intersections of law, politics, and migration in Australia, exploring both contemporary challenges and future directions. The event offers a platform for rigorous academic exchange, cross-disciplinary dialogue, and fresh insights into one of Australia’s most pressing and debated issues.
Conference Details:
📅 Date: Thursday 3 - Friday 4 December
⏰ Time: 09.00 am – 04.00 pm
📍 Venue: Monash Law Chambers, Ground Floor Auditorium, 555 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
RSVP: By COB 1 November 2026.
Keynote Speakers:
Professor Susan Kneebone
Susan Kneebone is a Professorial Fellow, and Senior Associate, Asian Law Centre, and Research Affiliate of Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne. Susan supervises PhD students on refugee law, statelessness and forced migration and has written widely on law, governance, and forced migration. Previously Susan was a Professor at Monash University’s Faculty of Law where she developed and taught courses on International Refugee Law, Citizenship and Migration Law and Human Trafficking. Susan is currently completing an Australia Research Council (ARC) funded project on: ‘the role of community sponsorship for refugee resettlement in Australia’. Another recently completed ARC project on ‘Indonesia's refugee policies: responsibility, security and regionalism’ led to the publication of Susan Kneebone, Reyvi Mariñas, Antje Missbach and Max Walden, (eds) Refugee Protection in Southeast Asia: Between Humanitarianism and Sovereignty (Berghahn Books, January 2025).
Associate Professor David Hundt
David Hundt is an Associate Professor of International Relations (IR) in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University with expertise in the cognate fields of Asian/Korean Studies, migration studies, and comparative political economy. His research focuses on three broad aspects of contemporary Asia and the Pacific: political economy (the developmental state and varieties of capitalism in Asia), regional security (e.g., comparative responses to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and the Korean War as a shaper of regional memory), and the politics of citizenship in Asia (e.g., the lives of Korean migrants in Australia). He has attained competitive research funding to support these projects, including from the Academy of Korean Studies, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Australia–Korea Foundation (DFAT). David has held academic leadership roles in the Asian Studies Association of Australia (including as President and conference convenor), as an assessor for the ARC (2014-), as a member of the National Library of Australia’s Fellowships Advisory Committee, and as Editor-in-Chief of Asian Studies Review.
Conference Program
THURSDAY 3 DECEMBER 2026
8:30-9:00 Registration and Morning Tea
9:00-9:10 Welcome and Acknowledgment of Country
- Matteo Bonotti (Director, Migration and Mobilities Research Hub, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts)
- Samantha Currie (Director, Borders, Sovereignty & Justice Lab, Faculty of Law)
9:10-9:30 Opening Address
- Professor Steven Vaughan (Dean of the Faculty of Law)
- Professor Krista Wiegand (Head of the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts)
9:30-11:00 Panel 1 - Mobility at Australia’s Edges: Borderlands, Corridors and Climate Futures
- Adrian Little (University of Melbourne), Sana Nakata (James Cook University) and Felecia Watkin Lui (James Cook University) - ‘Work, Borders, and Mobility: The Torres Strait as a Fluid Borderland’
- Stephanie Collins (Monash University), Luara Ferracioli (University of Sydney), Zamela Gina (University of Sydney) and Terry Macdonald (University of Melbourne) – ‘Climate
- Migration and Engaged Normative Theory’
- Aashish Yadav (University of Melbourne) - ‘The Future of Tuvaluan Nationality: Rising Seas and Implications for Mobility to Australia’
- Lan Anh Hoang (University of Melbourne) - ‘Digital Borders and Bordering Along the Vietnam–Australia Migration Corridor’
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:45 Panel 2 - Governing Migration, Shaping the Story
- Melissa Phillips (Western Sydney University) – ‘Beyond Silos: Rethinking Migration Research, Governance and Policy in Contemporary Australia’
- Emily Foley (Flinders University and University of Canberra), Zareh Ghazarian (Monash University) and Matteo Bonotti (Monash University) – ‘Party Politics and Australia’s Migration Policy’
- Ogy Simic (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre) and Jana Favero (Asylum Seeker Resource Centre) - ‘Changing the Story: Narrative Change and the Politics of Migration in Australia’
- Maggie Paul (La Trobe University) - ‘Ideal Migrants or Problem Population? The Politics of “International Student” as a Migrant Category in Australia’
12:45-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:00 Panel 3 - Making Home, Contesting Belonging
- Julius Mok (University of Melbourne) and Sow Keat Tok (University of Melbourne) - ‘Regulating Belonging: Legal Frameworks, Public Discourse, and the Contested Work of “Social Cohesion” in Australian Migration Debates’
- Anthea Hancocks (Scanlon Foundation Research Institute and Monash University) - ‘Migration, Inclusion and Public Policy’
- Douglas Wai Tak Choi (University of Melbourne) and Clayton Chin (University of Melbourne) – ‘Where is My Home? Political Alienation and the Political Inclusion of Immigrants as Homemaking’
- Santosh Adhikari (University of Tasmania) - ‘Social Cohesion, Integration, and Structural Barriers: Experiences of Nepali Migrants in Tasmania’
15:00-15:15 Break
15:15-16:45 Panel 4 - Everyday Borders: Precarity, Violence and Unequal Lives
- Bella Choo (University of Melbourne) - ‘The Egalitarian Exception: Disabled Migrants in Australia’
- Kangshu (Kylie) Hu (Monash University) - ‘Dual Precarity: How Geographic Isolation Amplifies Domestic and Family Violence Risk for Chinese-Speaking Migrants’
- Xing Yiping (Monash University)- ‘How China-born Migrants in Australia Manage Everyday Racism’
- Iori Hamada (Monash University) - ‘Between Two Legal Worlds: Japanese Migrant Mothers Navigating Family Law across Australia and Japan’
16:45-17:00 Break
17:00-18:00 Keynote
- David Hundt (Deakin University) - ‘Disempowered but not Disengaged: Korean Australians in an Age of Political Polarisation’
FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER 2026
9:30-11:00 Panel 5 - Protection and its Limits: Refuge, Rights and Deservingness
- Beatrice Alupo (Excelsia University College) and Tony Nyundu (University of Johannesburg)- ‘Constructing refugee Deservingness, Legitimacy, and Belonging: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Australian Media, Political Statements, and Media Commentary between 2015—2026’
- Faiza Idrees (University of New England) - ‘Protection in Process: A Socio-Legal Analysis of Australian Migration Law and Asylum Policy through the Experiences of Ahmadi Refugees’
- Tamara Tubakovic (University of Melbourne) and Kidjie Saguin (University of Melbourne) - ‘Varieties of Refugee Policy Design: The Case of Australia’
- Sonali Walpola (ANU) and John Minas (Monash University) - ‘Protecting Temporary Migrants: The Need for a National Human Rights Act’
11:00-11:15 Break
11:15-12:15 Keynote
- Susan Kneebone (University of Melbourne) - ‘Displaced Persons, creating a ‘settler nation’, multiculturalism and the community: the development of migration policy in Australia’
- Response by Heli Askola (Monash University)
12:15-13:00 Lunch
13:00-14:15 Panel 6 - The Precarity of Movement: Shaping Lives Across and Within Borders
- Regina Jefferies (UNSW) - ‘Contesting the 'Gap' Between Law and Practice: Entry Screening in Australia’
- Swapna Verma (Monash University) - ‘The Rise of Digital Nomadism and Cross-Border Remote Working: Re-examining Australia’s Jurisdictional Taxing Rights for Individuals’
- Dorcas Yeung (University of Melbourne) - ‘Immigration Control and Precarity of Creative Workers in Australia’
14:15-14:30 Break
14:30-15:45 Panel 7 - Migration, Sovereignty and the Settler-Colonial State
- Jessica Hambly and Alexander Titus (ANU) - ‘Chronopolitics and Migration Law in the Australian Colonial-State’
- Francesco Ricatti (Australian National University) - ‘Plural Linguistic Sovereignties and Indigenous Knowledges: A Multidisciplinary Theoretical Challenge to the Monolingual Constitution of Settler Colonialism’
- Jesse Fleay (Monash University) — ‘Indigeneity, Plurality, and the Culture of the Welcome: Rethinking Migration Through First Nations Political Thought’
15:45-16:00 Concluding remarks
Why attend
- Hear current research on migration law, policy, and governance in Australia
- Explore how legal frameworks shape ideas about citizenship, belonging, and identity
- Engage with scholars across law, political science, sociology, and related fields
- Take part in discussion and Q&A across both days
- Build connections with researchers from different disciplines and career stages
Who should attend
- Academic researchers in law, political science, and related fields
- HDR candidates and early career researchers
- Established scholars working on migration or public policy
- Practitioners and professionals with an interest in migration and governance
Organisers
- Monash University Borders, Sovereignty and Justice Lab (Faculty of Law)
- Monash University Migration and Mobilities Research Hub (Faculty of Arts)
Frequently asked questions
Is registration required?
Yes. Registration is required to attend.
Is there a cost to attend?
No. This is a free event.