過去卅年，國際移民已成為全球化研究議題中重大的項目之一。移民的多樣性也導致了新的研究議題與人口政策考量。本研究調查由中華民國僑務委員會委託完成，目的在建立旅居澳洲臺灣僑民之重要基礎數據，以提高僑民在澳洲被重視的程度，並做為政府僑民服務、相關政策制定及學術界研究之重要參考。 在方法上，首先採用澳洲2001 年普查資料，以了解一、有關臺灣移民之人口統計及其特徵。再經過實地調查及問卷，共蒐集居住在澳洲雪梨、布理斯本、墨爾本及伯斯等四大都市之臺灣移民家庭計319 戶，1,028 人以了解二、臺灣移民當初移民之動機與過程、生活現況與適應情形，以及回流之情況；並蒐集三、澳洲臺灣移民對政府僑務工作之了解程度與服務需求。最後，將依據調查結果對我國僑民政策提出：一、政府應加強與整合國人移民前的諮詢管道與資訊服務，二、增加海外僑務服務面向，以加強僑胞之向心力，三、積極建構海外華語文教育教材資源通路，四、協助編撰適合當地之華語文教材以及五、擴大回流移民協助與優惠措施，吸引僑胞返鄉投資等，五點政策上的涵意。 本研究獲得的調查統計資料補足了過去的普查資料研究與質性研究間的斷層，其結果與先前的質性資料亦有相當程度的呼應與相互驗證。對澳洲臺灣僑民研究而言具有相當的重要性。

International migration has been one of the important global issues in the last thirty years. The diversity of international migration patterns occurring in Taiwan leads to new research interests and have significant implications for population policies. This paper is based on a large survey supported by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) to build a data base on the various aspects of the Taiwanese community in Australia.It is hoped that greater attention would be given to Taiwanese immigrants abroad by scholars and policy makers, and better services would be provided by the OCAC in future. The two types of data used in this research are the Australian Census, and a survey of 319 households which includes 1,028 persons living in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth.Apart from understanding the population characteristics,reasons for migration, living conditions, adaptations and intentions to return to Taiwan, the survey focuses on the knowledge and needs of services provided by the OCAC.The policy implications of this research are discussed so that the Taiwanese immigrants have better assess to pre-departure information, and services to help immigrants establish themselves in the host society.Chinese text books, teachers and schools teaching their children Chinese, services to recruit returnees to the job market, trade and investment information are in great need. After years of research in Australia, the authors find that the Census, occasional surveys and previous in-depth interviews together provide a fuller understanding of the Taiwanese community in Australia than previous quantitative or qualitative research.