EXPAT BRAIN UTILISATION SCHEME

With now over one million Australians living overseas, the Australian Government should draw on the brain power of some of the world’s best and brightest people to assist in making Australia successful.

Many Australian expats would love to move home, but cannot due to financial constraints or because Australia does not have the high-powered positions to entice them back.

The introduction of GST has meant that expats’ income source is of little relevance, as long they spend much of their disposable income back in Australia.

The Australian Government should formalise a scheme with two goals:

1. To include these people in major projects for the benefit of Australia, getting them to donate their spare time working on major projects from their bases overseas; and 

2. Devising a way of helping Australia’s Expats to spend their overseas-earned money in Australia.


POINT ONE: Most expat professionals have a great deal of spare time which, with the aid of the internet age, could be harnessed to work on Australian projects, swelling the country’s R&D output.

In return for the sense of pride, and some sort of official notoriety, they would be happy to donate their time for no cost.

POINT TWO: Expat workers from countries such as India and The Philippines send so much of their money home that, in The Philippines case, it is said to be their largest source of income.