AUSTRALIA's recession and massive unemployment are driving increasing numbers of Australians to look for work in Asia, particularly Hongkong and Singapore.
Although there has been a rise in the number of Australian-born residents emigrating during times of high unemployment in the past, most went to the traditional destinations of New Zealand, Britain and the United States.
This time, several thousand have opted for Asia instead, a recent report by the Bureau of Immigration Research found.
Although the traditional destinations remained the top three for emigrating Australians, in the year to June 30, 1992, 1,035 of the 29,122 emigrants from Australia went to Hongkong, the fourth largest destination. Of those, 466 were Australian-born.
Singapore was the sixth most popular destination, with 566 emigrants attracted, and Malaysia, the 11th largest destination, attracted 381 emigrants.
''During times of high unemployment the emigration of Australian-born is higher,'' bureau statistician Mr David Ward said. ''But now the numbers going to Hongkong and Singapore have increased a lot. In the past they were very small, almost negligible.'' Australia has been one of the premier destinations for Hongkong migrants, though numbers have fallen of in recent years.