Te reo struggles in Australia

One in six Maori now live in Australia, but struggle to maintain te reo Maori there, according to recent Victoria University research.

"Six percent of Maori in Australia speak te reo in the home, but Maori don’t all tend to live in the same neighbourhoods there—one of the factors that makes it difficult to maintain the language," says researcher Paul Hamer, Senior Associate of Victoria University's Institute of Policy Studies.

"Maori migrants who speak te reo are perhaps more in danger of losing their language than other immigrant groups because Maori fit so easily into Australian workplaces and communities, and they also have a high intermarriage rate."

Mr Hamer's research found that many speakers of Maori, including some Maori language teachers, are leaving New Zealand, often in search of higher paid work.

"There is a bit of a Maori aspect to the 'brain drain', which is often overlooked—for instance the 2006 Australian census revealed 140 te reo-speaking teachers working in Australia," says Mr Hamer.

Mr Hamer's findings build upon research he undertook on Maori in Australia for Te Puni Kokiri in 2006 and 2007. Using Australian census data, he calculates that more than 10,000 speakers of te reo moved to Australia between 1986 and 2006.

He also surveyed a number of immersion or bilingual kura principals, most of whom reported students or staff moving to Australia.

Mr Hamer estimates from Australian education figures that around 100 te reo-speaking school students who need assistance with English as a second language (ESL) move to Australia each year.

"There are instances of young Maori attending total immersion schools in New Zealand, who suddenly have to go to mainstream Australian schools.

"Many of these students are in need of ESL tuition as they are still learning English, but not all states provide ESL support for New Zealanders as they do for children from other countries.

"In light of my research findings, it would make sense for agencies responsible for te reo in New Zealand to at least acknowledge the effect of trans-Tasman migration, and to clarify where te reo in Australia stands in relation to government language support."

To download the full report visit http://ips.ac.nz/publications/publications/show/302