The National Lockout: Impacts of Australia’s International Border Closure on Family Relationships and Notions of Citizenship

Title
The National Lockout: Impacts of Australia’s International Border Closure on Family Relationships and Notions of Citizenship
Publication Date
2024-05-29
Author(s)
Strungaru, Simona
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7288-4640
Email: sstrunga@myune.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:sstrunga
Coghlan, Jo
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6361-6713
Email: jcoghla3@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jcoghla3
Editor
Editor(s): Rosalina Pisco Costa and Sampson Lee Blair
Type of document
Book Chapter
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Emerald Publishing Limited
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Edition
1
Series
Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research
DOI
10.1108/s1530-353520240000025007
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/70988
Abstract

In March 2020, the Australian Government restricted the entry of travelers into Australia by closing its international borders in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). While Australian citizens who were resident overseas could return to Australia under certain conditions, the border closures significantly affected their ability to return to Australia and as a consequence had a dramatic impact on their lives and the lives of their families. This chapter explores the effects of the Australian government’s decision to close the national border by presenting the lived experiences of Australian citizens adversely affected by the government’s decision. The research is based on an online survey conducted in late 2021 and early 2022. Based on the findings, this chapter explores notions of Australian citizenship rights and privileges in the context of the pandemic, and the profound impacts the national lockout had on Australians as individuals, family members and on their sense of national identity. A central finding of this research reveals how citizens’ separation from family during the lockout placed considerable stress on the family as a social institution and caused significant impacts on Australians’ physical and mental health.

Link
Citation
More than Just a ‘Home’: Understanding the Living Spaces of Families, v.25, p. 139-160
ISBN
9781837976522
9781837976515
9781837976539
Start page
139
End page
160

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