NET OVERSEAS MIGRATION

Net overseas migration (NOM) is the net gain or loss of population through immigration to Australia and emigration from Australia. Data provided by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) are used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to calculate the official NOM estimates each quarter.

In 2014-15, NOM decreased from the previous year, recording an annual estimate of 168,200 persons, which was 9.8% (18,200 persons) less than in 2013-14 and 6.8% (12,200 persons) less than the dip experienced in 2010-11 when NOM added 180,400 persons to Australia for the year. Net Overseas Migration for 2014-15 was the lowest recorded since the introduction of the '12/16 month rule' methodology from July 2006.
In 2014-15, NOM contributed the greatest number of people to the most populous states: New South Wales with a net increase of 66,100 persons, followed by Victoria (54,100 persons), Queensland (19,100 persons) and Western Australia (14,100 persons). Tasmania had the lowest net increase with 1,000 persons (see Table 2.2). For the most up-to-date official estimates of NOM by state and territory produced by the ABS, see Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0). For the most up-to-date forecasts of NOM produced by DIBP, see The Outlook for Net Overseas Migration at: http://www.border.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics

2.2 NOM, Selected characteristics - State & territory - 2014-15(a)
	NOM		NOM ARRIVALS			NOM DEPARTURES
			Overseas arrivals	Median age	Sex ratio(b)	Overseas departures	Median age	Sex ratio(b)
State or territory	no.	%	no.	years	ratio	no.	years	ratio
NSW	66 086	39.3	167 150	26.8	99.8	101 064	29.1	101.0
Vic.	54 052	32.1	130 532	25.8	99.7	76 480	28.5	101.1
Qld	19 076	11.3	83 463	26.4	98.0	64 387	28.6	101.9
SA	10 424	6.2	23 357	26.4	100.6	12 933	28.0	107.6
WA	14 122	8.4	55 522	27.0	104.3	41 400	29.0	114.3
Tas.	1 032	0.6	3 822	26.7	102.4	2 790	28.7	99.9
NT	1 093	0.6	5 927	27.4	132.8	4 834	29.3	145.1
ACT	2 290	1.4	8 771	26.9	100.4	6 481	28.8	106.5
Australia(c)	168 183	100.0	478 557	26.5	100.4	310 374	28.8	103.9
(a) Estimates are preliminary - see paragraph 9 of the Explanatory Notes.
(b) Males per 100 females.
(c) Includes Other Territories.

An individual's actual travel behaviour and associated characteristics, including visa type, are only available from final NOM data, as these can only be accurately determined at the end of the 16 month reference period following a traveller's initial border crossing.

The DIBP manages and grants visas each year in accordance with relevant legislation, government planning and policy. It is important to note that there is a difference between when and how many visas are granted by DIBP; and when and how they may impact on NOM, and therefore Australia's estimated resident population (ERP). For example, for many visas there can be a lag between a visa being granted and the actual use of that visa by the applicant on entering Australia. Also, some travellers who have been granted permanent or long-term temporary visas may end up staying in Australia for a short period of stay or not at all. In addition, travellers may also apply for, and be granted, a different visa whilst in Australia or overseas. However, without an additional border crossing within the reference quarter to capture a traveller's change of visa, the NOM system is unable to show these occurrences.

Table 2.3 shows a breakdown of the types of visa groups which have contributed to final NOM. It shows that temporary visa holders are the main contributors to NOM in the 2013-14 financial year.

2.3 NOM, by major groupings and visa(a) - Australia - 2013-14
		NOM ARRIVAL		NOM DEPARTURE		NOM
Major groupings and visa		no.	%	no.	%	no.	%
Temporary visas		258 995	54.6	134 129	46.6	124 866	67.0
	Vocational education and training sector	9 795	2.1	8 293	2.9	1 502	0.8
	Higher education sector	79 278	16.7	26 583	9.2	52 695	28.3
	Student other	25 528	5.4	9 364	3.3	16 164	8.7
	Temporary work skilled (subclass 457)	33 329	7.0	22 440	7.8	10 889	5.8
	Visitor(b)	48 653	10.3	15 628	5.4	33 025	17.7
	Working holiday	54 449	11.5	27 093	9.4	27 356	14.7
	Other temporary visas	7 963	1.7	24 728	8.6	-16 765	-9.0
Permanent Visas		94 953	20.0	20 026	7.0	74 927	40.2
	Family	35 806	7.6	5 793	2.0	30 013	16.1
	Skill	40 486	8.5	8 101	2.8	32 385	17.4
	Special eligibility and humanitarian	13 232	2.8	155	0.1	13 077	7.0
	Other permanent visas	5 429	1.1	5 977	2.1	-548	-0.3
New Zealand citizen (subclass 444)		37 927	8.0	25 722	8.9	12 205	6.5
Australian citizen		73 113	15.4	92 698	32.2	-19 585	-10.5
Other(c)		9 167	1.9	15 215	5.3	-6 048	-3.2
Total		474 155	100.0	287 790	100.0	186 365	100.0
(a) The visa category information in this table represents the number of visas based on the visa type at the time of a traveller's specific movement. It is this specific movement that has been used to calculate NOM. Therefore, the number of visas in this table should not be confused with information on the number of visas granted by DIBP.
(b) Visitor visas include tourists, business visitors, medical treatment and other.
(c) Includes residents returning (i.e. non Australian citizens who have a permanent resident visa) and visa unknown.