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RELEASE OF MIGRATION, AUSTRALIA, 2008 (CAT. NO. 3412.0)


The annual publication Migration, Australia 2007-08 (cat. no. 3412.0) was released on 28 July 2009 and includes information on Net Overseas Migration (NOM), interstate migration and Australia's resident population by country of birth. The publication includes a Feature Article - Population Mobility. In this article, population mobility is measured using census data based on the place of usual residence. The analysis looks at where people were living on census night, who moved and who did not move from their place of usual residence and the movements between different geographic areas. It discusses the extent of population mobility at various geographic levels (intrastate and interstate) and some of the characteristics of movers. The geographic levels that are examined include Statistical Local Areas (SLA), Statistical Divisions (SD) and interstate.

Net overseas migration

In 2007 the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) introduced improved methods for calculating NOM. The improved method has been used in calculating Australia's official estimated resident population (ERP) since September quarter 2006. Experience in using the new NOM methodology, as well as the subsequent availability of new information, has indicated that it may be possible to make further improvements to the preliminary estimates. The ABS is investigating this and will consult with major users in the later part of 2009 regarding improvements to the methodology.

New data now available

Interstate migration data:

• Annual timeseries data of interstate migration by arrivals, departures, State/territory, age and sex from 2002 onwards are available electronically as a data cube (in Supertable format) from the Downloads tab of Migration Australia, 2007-08 (cat. no. 3412.0) on the ABS website.

• Annual timeseries NOM data by arrivals, departures, State/territory, age and sex from 2004 onwards, based on the improved methodology, are available electronically as a data cube (in Supertable format) from the Downloads tab of Migration Australia, 2007-08 (cat. no. 3412.0) on the ABS website.
• With the introduction of improved methods for estimating NOM the ABS has developed an analytical data set called the Travellers Characteristics Data Base. These improvements allow the derivation of an individual's actual travel behaviour (using final NOM data) and record certain characteristics for any traveller who has contributed to NOM such as main reason for journey. The database allows additional analysis on final NOM data that was not previously available. For more information see paragraph 64 of the Explanatory Notes in Migration Australia, 2007-08 (cat. no. 3412.0) on the ABS website.

• Updated data based on the 2006 Census are now available electronically as a data cube (in Excel format) under the Downloads tab of Migration Australia, 2007-08 (cat. no. 3412.0) on the ABS website. Data on the state and territory composition of Australia's ERP by country of birth are only available for census years.