Australian governance across the Asia-Pacific

For Associate Professor Olga Oleinikova, these movements accelerated by environmental or humanitarian issues are also governance challenges.

“They require better data, clearer policy frameworks and more attention to people whose journeys currently remain invisible,” she said in a recent Research Café presentation.

Olga describes her work as sitting at the intersection of migration governance, forced displacement, climate mobility and reproductive mobility, a notable new area of research.

“I’ve been looking at migration for years. My focus has shifted over time from skilled migration to war-related displacement, refugee movements and new forms of mobility emerging in response to conflict, climate and access to reproductive services,” she said.

They require better data, clearer policy frameworks and more attention to people whose journeys currently remain invisible.

A global institute for emerging human mobilities

As Director of the new Global Institute of Emerging Human Mobilities, Olga collaborates with an international network of researchers to investigate mobility patterns that are accelerating but not yet well understood by policy systems.

The institute brings together scholars working across climate displacement, reproductive mobility, migration studies, public health and environmental research, with a central concern in people whose movements sit between existing categories. 

“We want to know about the people who are invisible now to policymakers, in particular, those people whose journeys are affected by climate change and in more recent years, by access to reproductive healthcare.”

Connecting climate mobility and reproductive mobility

Olga is currently examining how reproductive travel is on the rise, with more people seeking solutions for fertility issues like surrogacy, IVF, donor eggs as well as abortion services. 

Reproductive mobility is often studied through public health or legal frameworks, while climate displacement is usually addressed through migration or environmental studies. 

“Very little research examines where these fields overlap,” Olga said, adding that this overlap became clear to her during a research trip to Georgia.

Very little research examines where these fields overlap.

“On that trip I learned that some Australians were travelling there for surrogacy, and that some of the surrogates were displaced Ukrainian women,” she said.

Such double displacement highlights how conflict, reproductive care, cross-border travel and vulnerability can intersect in ways that are not covered by existing policy frameworks.

Australian governance of climate migration in the Indo-Pacific

In another project that was recently funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Olga is examining how climate-related mobility is being governed across different Indo-Pacific contexts. 

“The project compares Brunei and Vietnam, looking at how different economic and governance systems shape responses to climate mobility,” she said.

While Brunei offers a resource-rich context for examining how governments are planning for climate-related movement, Olga says Vietnam provides a contrasting case.

“This is particularly true for the Mekong region, where communities have already experienced environmental pressures, relocation and displacement. Our project also considers immobility: the circumstances of people who cannot move, choose not to move, or are constrained in their ability to relocate.”

With climate change affecting communities across the globe, Olga said that governance systems need to adapt to respond to and prepare for the growing incidence of sinking island states, climate disasters and uneven regional impacts.

“How can Australia and its regional partners better understand, anticipate and respond to mobility patterns that are already emerging?” she asked.

Building evidence for policy and collaboration

A key aim of the Global Institute of Emerging Human Mobilities is to build the data infrastructure needed to map and measure emerging human mobilities. 

Please join us to help open up new ways of thinking about mobility, governance and care across the Asia-Pacific and contribute to this fast-growing global field.

“By making these flows more visible, we anticipate that out work can support more responsive governance, stronger regional collaboration and better recognition of the people affected by climate change, displacement and access to reproductive care,” Olga said, adding that the team is keen to explore opportunities for collaboration. 

“Please join us to help open up new ways of thinking about mobility, governance and care across the Asia-Pacific and contribute to this fast-growing global field.”

What’s next?

• Discover the Global Institute of Emerging Human Mobilities.
• Discover Olga’s research.