A report examines the situation of adult education for immigrants and refugees in Australia. The first section situates the nation's immigration program within national economic development. The second section outlines the development of policy and programs relating to language and literacy education for migrants and refugees, and describes how policy and institutional approaches recognize diversity in the design and delivery of services. The third section summarizes research undertaken within the Adult Migrant English Program to identify groups of adult learners with special needs and the learning barriers that face them. These studies focus on how characteristics, expectations, and previous experiences of learning influence migrant learners' attempts to interpret and cope with the curriculum, teaching methods, resources, and tasks of the Australian language classroom. This section also details policies and practices developed to overcome these barriers and improve the effectiveness of learning. (Contains 56 references.) (MSE)