This paper explores the social support of Timorese workers under the Australian Seasonal Workers Programme (SWP). The SWP, which allows citizens from Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste to work in Australian agriculture for six to nine months, has become the major source of remittances for seasonal workers from Timor-Leste. The paper describes how access to the internet and the availability of social media devices can help to maintain long-distance family relationships, support migrants' well-being and alleviate the effects of socio-spatial segregation to some extent. However, the need to earn remittances in a fixed period of time forces them to accept a trade-off in the quality of their social and personal lives in rural Australia. According to the New Economics of Labour Migration (NELM), isolation and separation from families are part of a rational household strategy to accumulate remittances. This paper argues that insufficient attention has been paid to the social costs borne by workers and left-behind households and that the sustainability of the SWP depends to a large extent on the ability of workers to find ways of meeting their needs for social support. The analysis is based on data from participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 50 Timorese seasonal workers in Australia and Timor-Leste.

中文翻译：

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移民、家庭和网络：澳大利亚的帝汶季节性工人的社会支持

本文探讨了澳大利亚季节性工人计划 (SWP) 下东帝汶工人的社会支持。SWP允许来自太平洋岛国和东帝汶的公民在澳大利亚农业工作六到九个月，已成为东帝汶季节性工人汇款的主要来源。该论文描述了互联网接入和社交媒体设备的可用性如何有助于维持远距离家庭关系，支持移民的福祉并在一定程度上减轻社会空间隔离的影响。然而，在固定时间内赚取汇款的需要迫使他们接受在澳大利亚农村的社会和个人生活质量的权衡。根据新劳务移民经济学（NELM），与家人隔离和分离是家庭积累汇款的合理策略的一部分。本文认为，工人和留守家庭所承担的社会成本没有得到足够的重视，社会福利金的可持续性在很大程度上取决于工人找到满足其社会支持需求的方式的能力。该分析基于对澳大利亚和东帝汶 50 名东帝汶季节性工人的参与观察和半结构化访谈的数据。本文认为，工人和留守家庭所承担的社会成本没有得到足够的重视，社会福利金的可持续性在很大程度上取决于工人找到满足其社会支持需求的方式的能力。该分析基于对澳大利亚和东帝汶 50 名东帝汶季节性工人的参与观察和半结构化访谈的数据。本文认为，工人和留守家庭所承担的社会成本没有得到足够的重视，社会福利金的可持续性在很大程度上取决于工人找到满足其社会支持需求的方式的能力。该分析基于对澳大利亚和东帝汶 50 名东帝汶季节性工人的参与观察和半结构化访谈的数据。