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CHARACTERISTICS OF RECENT MIGRANTS


INTRODUCTION

The Characteristics of Recent Migrants survey (CORMS) collects data on the labour force status and other characteristics of persons who recently migrated to Australia. The survey also collects information on temporary residents who planned to stay in Australia for 12 months or more. The information collected enables an assessment of the labour market experience of recent migrants. The survey was conducted on an irregular basis between 1984 and 2004, and is currently conducted every 3 years on a sample of recent permanent migrants and temporary residents. In 2010 the name of the survey changed from 'Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Recent Migrants' to 'Characteristics of Recent Migrants'.

This section describes only those aspects of the methodology that are unique to this survey, and should be used in conjunction with the section: Labour Force Supplementary Surveys which outlines the survey methodology used in the supplementary surveys.


SURVEY OUTPUT

Data from the survey are published in Characteristics of Recent Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0). More detailed data may be available on request.

The main populations of interest are persons who migrated to Australia in the last ten years who had obtained permanent Australian resident status, as well as temporary residents of Australia for 12 months or more. Estimates are produced on an original basis only (i.e. are not seasonally adjusted) and include:

Socio-demographic information

Sex; age group on arrival; marital status; family relationship in household; size of household; state or territory of usual residence (including whether in a capital city); whether born in Australia; whether born in an English speaking country; country of birth (broad geographic area); and labour force status.

Year of arrival; main language spoken on arrival; proficiency in spoken English on arrival; main language currently spoken at home; current proficiency in spoken English; whether an Australian citizen; type of visa on arrival to live in Australia; type of visa at survey date; initial residency status; current (at survey date) residency status; whether left a paid job when came to live in Australia; whether has had a paid job since arriving in Australia to live; whether main applicant on initial visa application; and whether main applicant on current visa application.

…with a non-school qualification obtained before arrival or since arrival
Level of highest non-school qualification obtained before arrival; main field of highest non-school qualification obtained before arrival; whether has applied for highest non-school qualification to be assessed for recognition in Australia; whether highest non-school qualification has been recognised in Australia; level of highest non-school qualification obtained since arrival; and main field of highest non-school qualification obtained since arrival.

…who had a job before arrival or have worked since arrival
Occupation in main job just before arrival; whether occupation in main job just before arrival is same as current occupation in main job; number of jobs held since arriving in Australia; occupation in first job held in Australia; whether worked full-time or part-time in first job held in Australia; whether used highest pre-migration non-school qualification obtained before arrival in first job held in Australia; whether tried to find work more suited to highest pre-migration non-school qualification when working in first job held in Australia; whether experienced difficulty finding first job held in Australia; all difficulties (and main difficulty) experienced finding first job held in Australia; whether received help finding first job held in Australia; all sources of help in finding first job held in Australia; whether would have preferred to work more hours in first job held in Australia; and sources of household income (main and all).

…who are currently employed
Occupation in current job; industry of current job; status in employment; full-time or part-time status; whether multiple job holder; hours worked in current job; whether prefers more hours in current job; whether used highest pre-migration non-school qualification obtained before arrival in current job; whether tried to find work more suited to highest pre-migration non-school qualification since commencing current job; and whether experienced difficulty finding current job held in Australia.

…with a permanent visa
Whether temporary resident before becoming a permanent resident.

…who are currently not in the Labour Force or without a non-school qualification
Whether looked for work since arriving in Australia; main reason for not actively looking for work; and whether studying full-time.

• Initial survey conducted (March) – preliminary data published in Characteristics of Migrants Aged 18 Years and Over at Time of Arrival and Who Arrived After 1960, Australia, Preliminary (cat. no. 6249.0) (footnote 1) and final data in Characteristics of Migrants Aged 18 Years and Over at Time of Arrival and Who Arrived After 1960, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Scope restricted to adult migrants who arrived after 1960.

• Survey conducted (September) – data published in Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Scope revised – adult migrants aged 18 years and over on arrival who arrived in Australia after 1970.

• The Australian Standard Classification of Countries for Social Statistics (cat. no. 1269.0) was adopted to aggregate birthplace information. Historical estimates were revised to enable comparison.

• Survey conducted (September) - data published in Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Information Paper, Australian Bureau of Statistics Classification of Qualifications (cat. no. 1263.0) was adopted.
• Level of attainment and field of study were collected separately.

• The month of collection was fixed as November for this and subsequent collections. Data published in Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• From August, occupation data are classified according to the second edition of the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations. See Information Paper: ASCO – Australian Standard Classification of Occupations (cat. no. 1221.0).
• Data item 'Field of qualification obtained before migration' no longer available.
• Sample restricted to seven-eighths of the LFS sample.

• Survey conducted (November) – data published in Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Scope revised - adult migrants who arrived in Australia after 1980 and were aged 18 years and over on arrival, excluding persons living in remote and sparsely settled areas.

• Survey conducted (November) – data published in Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Scope revised - migrants who arrived in Australia after 1984 and were aged 15 years or over on arrival.
• New population added – Migrants and temporary residents (who planned to stay in Australia for 12 months or more).
• New data items relating to the residency status (including visa types) of the respondent added.
• Data items related to whether the migrant had family or friends in Australia before migration and 'migration category' no longer available.
• Computer assisted interviewing (CAI) implementation.
• Australian Standard Classification of Countries for Social Statistics (cat. no. 1269.0) was renamed to Standard Australian Classification of Countries (cat. no. 1269.0)

• Survey conducted (November) – data published in Labour Force Status and Other Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Scope revised – included only migrants who arrived in Australia in the last 10 years (i.e. after 1997); were aged 15 years and over on arrival; who had obtained permanent Australian resident status, as well as persons who were temporary residents of Australia for 12 months or more, and excluded those born in New Zealand, those holding New Zealand citizenship and those who held Australian citizenship prior to their arrival in Australia.
• Data items relating to the country of last residence were not collected.
• Several new data items were collected including: whether had a job since arrival; the length of time before finding a job after arriving in Australia; selected details of the first job held in Australia; whether the highest non-school qualification obtained before arrival was used in the first job held in Australia; whether difficulties were experienced finding work in Australia; and whether help was received finding work in Australia.

• Survey conducted (November) – data published in Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Scope updated - those who arrived in Australia after 2000; included migrants who currently reside in remote areas; and excluded those who held New Zealand citizenship on arrival (regardless of place of birth), but included persons born in New Zealand who did not hold New Zealand citizenship.
• Several data items were added, including: whether would have preferred to have worked longer hours in first job in Australia; main reason not actively looking for work; and main language spoken on arrival. Other data items were removed, including data items related to the last visa held before becoming an Australian Citizen; the length of time spent overseas since most recent arrival; the highest year of school completed; and whether working full-time or part-time just before arrival.
• The 2007 data item "Type of visa on most recent arrival to live in Australia" was re-labelled to "Type of visa on arrival to live in Australia" (the data-item has remained the same as 2007).

• Survey conducted (November) – data published in Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• Socio-economic Indexes for Areas have been added to the November 2013 survey.
• Data items related to main difficulty finding first job in Australia and main difficulty finding job held as at the survey date were not collected in November 2013.

• Survey conducted (November) – data published in Characteristics of Migrants, Australia (cat. no. 6250.0).
• In 2016 the weighting methodology was modified to include ERP Migration statistics as part of the benchmark process.

1. The online ABS Historical Publication Index provides a catalogue of publications released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and its predecessor the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics from 1907 – 1993. Titles not digitised are available in print or microfiche format from the National Library of Australia, State libraries and many Australian university libraries. <Back