In 1998 the Department of Labour (DoL) produced a report examining its information needs in relation to immigration policy. This work discussed two major information gaps:
- the absence of data sources which enable the outcomes of immigration policies to be identified, and
- the lack of generalisable information on the process of migrants’ adaptation to living in New Zealand.
These information gaps exist despite the quality of existing information on migrants, such as the Census, and the hundreds of studies dealing with aspects of international migration to and from this country. Unfortunately very few of these studies, or the data on which they are based, can be used for evaluating directly the effectiveness of New Zealand’s immigration policy. No existing New Zealand databases are able to assess the effectiveness of immigration policy with reference to specific selection criteria and post-arrival integration into the labour market, the economy or society at large.
International literature is unanimous in endorsing the longitudinal approach as the best way to gain an understanding of the dynamics of migration and settlement processes. United States of America, Canada and Australia have all initiated longitudinal surveys in the 1990s and the Australian government has not only taken a group (cohort) of migrant arrivals and interviewed them three times but has recently allocated funds for a survey of a second cohort of arrivals. The Australian experience has shown that the survey data provides a timely and effective instrument to inform policy makers and planners about what is happening in the immigration and settlement area.