Australian internal migration is characterised by increasing temporariness. In addition, a greater number of people undertaking cross-jurisdictional migration are those who have already moved more than once. However, most research and discussion on migration does not examine the characteristics of these multiple-movers. Regional and peripheral areas such as the Northern Territory of Australia are becoming increasingly reliant on short-term and temporary migration to maintain population growth overall. Consequently, a better understanding of the differences between first-time migrants and short-term migrants is required for policies aiming to attract and retain migrants. Differentiating the characteristics of these migrant groups is also vital to attracting-back former, or repeat, residents. In this research we develop and apply a new method for examining the migration behaviours of a region’s former residents and their likelihood of returning, using the Northern Territory of Australia as the basis. Results demonstrate policy and planning can be enhanced by distinguishing internal migrant types and that the methods we have developed to do so are purposeful as well as replicable for other regions.

澳大利亚国内移民的特点是临时性增加。此外，更多进行跨辖区迁移的人是已经多次迁移的人。然而，大多数关于移民的研究和讨论并没有考察这些多动者的特征。澳大利亚北领地等偏远地区越来越依赖短期和临时移民来维持总体人口增长。因此，旨在吸引和留住移民的政策需要更好地了解首次移民和短期移民之间的差异。区分这些移民群体的特征对于吸引过去或回头的居民也至关重要。在这项研究中，我们以澳大利亚北领地为基础，开发并应用了一种新方法来检查一个地区前居民的迁移行为及其返回的可能性。结果表明，通过区分内部移民类型可以增强政策和规划，并且我们为此开发的方法是有目的的，并且可以在其他地区复制。