About this data
This is combined data from the ABS Census of Population and Housing and data on temporary visa holders (temporary entrants) provided by the Department Home Affairs.
Consistent with international definitions, in this data:
- People who indicated in the Census that they usually lived in another country and were visiting Australia for less than one year are considered overseas visitors.
- People who either have stayed or intended to stay in Australia for twelve months or more are considered temporary residents.
See the Appendix below for more information about the types of temporary entrants included in this data.
Who’s included?
On Census Night 2016, there were 1,635,503 temporary entrants in Australia. These people comprised:
- 1,500,409 temporary residents and 135,093 overseas visitors.
- 41% Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders - 664,957 persons (634,250 residents and 30,705 overseas visitors).
- 30% Student visa holders - 487,012 persons (449,883 residents and 37,125 overseas visitors).
- 10% Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders - 170,407 persons (165,351 residents and 5,055 overseas visitors).
- 8% Working Holiday Makers - 129,442 persons (78,763 residents and 50,680 overseas visitors).
- 11% Other Temporary visa holders (including Bridging visa holders) - 183,677 persons (or 172,155 residents and 11,524 overseas visitors).
Holders of visitor visas are not included.
The information which follows focuses on temporary residents (the largest group about whom most information is available).
Temporary residents in Australia
About the 1.5 million temporary residents in Australia in 2016:
- Just over half were male (53%).
- There were slightly more males than females in all visa groups except Working Holiday Makers (where 52% were female).
- They tended to be younger than the general population with a median age of 28 years (according to the June 30 2016 Estimated Resident Population, the median age of all Australians was 38 years).
- Student visa holders were the youngest (median age of 24 years) and Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders were the oldest (median age of 37 years).
Capital cities
In 2016:
- 81% of temporary residents lived in capital cities compared with 67% of all Australians (according to the June 30 2016 Estimated Resident Population).
- Student visa holders were most likely to live in capital cities (92%).
- Least likely to live in capital cities were Working Holiday Makers (68%).
- 27% of temporary residents lived in Sydney, 24% lived in Melbourne and 14% in Brisbane.
- Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders were most likely to live in Sydney (36%) followed by Melbourne (24%).
- Student visa holders were also most likely to live in Sydney (34%) or Melbourne (31%).
- In contrast, Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders were most likely to live in Brisbane (20%), with similar proportions living in Melbourne and Sydney (both 18%).
- 32% of Other Temporary visa holders and 26% of Working Holiday Makers lived in Sydney.
Table 1. Temporary residents by visa type and greater capital city statistical area of residence, 2016
| Visa type | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Special Category (New Zealand citizen) % | Student visa % | Temporary Work (Skilled) % | Working Holiday Maker % | Other Temporary % | Total % |
| Greater Sydney | 17.9 | 34.1 | 36.1 | 26.0 | 32.3 | 26.8 |
| Greater Melbourne | 18.3 | 30.8 | 23.8 | 17.0 | 28.9 | 23.8 |
| Greater Brisbane | 20.4 | 10.3 | 8.4 | 11.3 | 8.2 | 14.1 |
| Greater Adelaide | 1.7 | 5.5 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 4.1 | 3.2 |
| Greater Perth | 12.2 | 7.8 | 12.1 | 9.7 | 9.5 | 10.4 |
| Greater Hobart | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Greater Darwin | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 0.6 | 2.6 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 2.7 | 1.5 |
| Total capital cities | 71.8 | 92.2 | 85.7 | 68.4 | 86.8 | 81.0 |
| Rest of NSW | 4.7 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 4.8 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
| Rest of Vic. | 2.4 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 2.2 | 1.9 |
| Rest of Qld | 16.2 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 12.7 | 5.3 | 9.8 |
| Rest of SA | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Rest of WA | 3.3 | 0.1 | 2.1 | 3.5 | 1.1 | 2.0 |
| Rest of Tas. | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Rest of NT | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Total rest of Australia(a) | 28.2 | 7.9 | 14.3 | 31.6 | 13.2 | 19.0 |
| Total Australia (b) | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
a. Includes the Other Territories.
b. Excludes offshore, shipping and migratory and no usual address. Also the sum of components may not exactly match the totals due to rounding.
Source: Australian Census and Temporary Entrants Integrated Dataset, 2016.
Country of birth
In 2016, the top three countries of birth among temporary residents were:
- All temporary residents: New Zealand (32%), followed by China (11%), and India (8%).
- Student visa holders: China (27%), followed by India (13%) and Vietnam (5%).
- Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders: India (20%), England (12%), China (7%).
- Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders: New Zealand (75%) followed by Australia (6%) and Samoa (3%).
- Working Holiday Makers: South Korea (17%) followed by Taiwan (16%) and England (14%).
- Other Temporary visa holders: China (13%), followed by India (11%) and Iran (5%).
Table 2. Temporary residents, top five countries of birth by visa type, 2016
| Visa type | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ranking | Special Category (New Zealand citizen) | No. | % | Student | No. | % | Temporary Work (Skilled) | No. | % | Working Holiday Maker | No. | % | Other Temporary | No. | % |
| 1 | New Zealand | 470 761 | 75.1 | China (a) | 122 642 | 27.4 | India | 33 379 | 20.2 | South Korea | 13 499 | 17.4 | China (a) | 22 389 | 13.2 |
| 2 | Australia | 36 212 | 5.8 | India | 57 121 | 12.8 | England | 19 602 | 11.9 | Taiwan | 12 072 | 15.6 | India | 19 209 | 11.3 |
| 3 | Samoa | 19 600 | 3.1 | Vietnam | 20 942 | 4.7 | China(a) | 10 850 | 6.6 | England | 11 168 | 14.4 | Iran | 9 005 | 5.3 |
| 4 | England | 16 715 | 2.7 | Malaysia | 20 572 | 4.6 | Philippines | 10 078 | 6.1 | Japan | 5 500 | 7.1 | England | 8 588 | 5.1 |
| 5 | South Africa | 8 908 | 1.4 | Nepal | 20 087 | 4.5 | Ireland | 7 142 | 4.3 | Italy | 5 160 | 6.6 | Sri Lanka | 7 123 | 4.2 |
a. Excludes Special Administrative Regions (SAR's) and Taiwan. Source: Australian Census and Temporary Entrants Integrated Dataset, 2016.
Country of citizenship
In 2016, the most common countries of citizenship for temporary residents were:
- All temporary residents: New Zealand (42%) followed by China (11%), India (8%), United Kingdom (4%) and South Korea (3%).
- Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders: India (22%), followed by United Kingdom (16%) and China (7%).
- Student visa holders: China (27%), followed by India (13%) and Vietnam (5%).
- Working Holiday Makers: the United Kingdom (18%), South Korea (17%) and Taiwan (16%).
- Other Temporary visa holders: China (13%), followed by India (12%) and the United Kingdom (7%).
Year of arrival
- Most (63%) temporary residents in Australia in 2016 had arrived from 2011 onwards.
- Just under a quarter (23%) arrived in Australia in 2006 or earlier.
- Just over half (52%) of Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders had arrived in 2006 or earlier, consistent with their visas permitting them to stay in Australia indefinitely, to work, study or live and leave and enter Australia at will.
Note that the Census collects information on when a person first arrived in Australia to live, and some people may not have been continuously resident in Australia (or on the same visa) since that time.
Language spoken at home
In 2016, 57% of temporary residents spoke a language other than English at home:
- Student visa holders were most likely to speak a language other than English at home (92%).
- Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders mainly spoke English, with just 20% reporting speaking a language other than English at home.
Proficiency in English
In 2016, of those temporary residents who spoke a language other than English at home:
- 84% reported speaking English well or very well (i.e. were proficient).
- People aged 65 years and over were less likely to speak English well or very well (57%) compared with those aged 0 to 14 years (72%) and those aged 15 to 64 years (85%).
- Special Category (New Zealand citizen) were most likely to report they spoke English well or very well (93%).
- Working Holiday Makers were least likely to report speaking English very well or well (59%).
Qualifications
In 2016, over half of temporary residents (aged 15 years and over) held a non-school qualification (57%).
- 33% held a Bachelor Degree or higher level qualification.
- Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders were most likely to have a non-school qualification (82%).
- Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders were least likely to hold a non-school qualification (51%).
In terms of the level of non-school qualifications held:
- Over half of Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders had completed a Bachelor Degree or higher (57%).
- Similar proportions of Student visa holders and Working Holiday Makers had completed a Bachelor Degree or higher - 40% and 37% respectively.
- 17% of Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders had completed a Bachelor Degree or higher while 25% held a Certificate level qualification.
Labour force status
In 2016, 68% of temporary residents aged 15 and over were in the labour force.
- Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders were the most likely to be in the labour force (86%) and had the lowest unemployment rate (4.0%).
- 84% of Working Holiday Makers were in the labour force, with 11.3% unemployed.
- Around half of Student visa holders were in the labour force. This group had the highest unemployment rate at 20.1%.
In 2016, 60% of employed temporary residents worked full-time (35 hours or more). These included:
- Most Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders (88%).
- Special Category (New Zealand Citizen) visa holders (75%) and Working Holiday Makers (64%).
- In contrast, the vast majority (91%) of Student visa holders were employed part-time. Conditions placed on Student visas limit the number of hours some students may work.
- Details of persons who were employed but away from work, or who did not state their full-time/part time work status, have been excluded.
Occupation
In 2016, temporary residents were most likely to be employed as Labourers (19%), Professionals (16%) and Technicians and Trades Workers (15%).
Main occupations varied across the different temporary visa holder groups:
- Almost a third (30%) of Student visa holders worked as Labourers (such as Cleaners, Food process workers and kitchen hands) while 23% worked as Community and Personal Service Workers (such as Carers and aides, Waiters and Hospitality workers).
- Similarly, Working holiday makers most commonly worked as Labourers (39%) and Community and Personal Service Workers (21%).
- 36% of Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders were Professionals.
- 10% were Business, Human Resource and Marketing Professionals such as Accountants and Financial brokers.
- 9% were ICT Professionals such as Business and Systems Analysts and Programmers.
- 7% were Health Professionals such as Medical Practitioners, Health Diagnostic and Promotion Professionals.
- A further 22% of Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders were Technicians and Trades Workers and 19% were Managers.
- Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders mainly worked in Professional occupations (15%) or as Technicians and Trades Workers (15%).
Table 3. Employed temporary residents(a) aged 15 years and over, proportion by visa type and occupation, 2016
| Visa type | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Occupation | Special Category (New Zealand citizen) % | Student visa % | Temporary Work (Skilled) % | Working Holiday Maker % | Other Temporary % | Total % |
| Managers | 11.2 | 2.9 | 18.7 | 5.4 | 8.6 | 9.7 |
| Professionals | 14.9 | 7.1 | 35.8 | 7.6 | 17.9 | 15.9 |
| Technicians and Trades Workers | 14.5 | 11.1 | 21.6 | 11.5 | 15.0 | 14.6 |
| Community and Personal Service Workers | 9.7 | 23.3 | 5.7 | 20.5 | 13.7 | 13.3 |
| Clerical and Administrative Workers | 11.8 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 8.3 | 8.3 |
| Sales Workers | 7.7 | 12.8 | 3.8 | 5.8 | 9.2 | 8.3 |
| Machinery Operators and Drivers | 14.0 | 6.3 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 6.3 | 9.0 |
| Labourers | 14.5 | 30.4 | 6.3 | 38.8 | 18.6 | 19.0 |
| Total(a) | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
a. Excludes not stated or inadequately described. Also the sum of components may not exactly match the totals due to rounding.
Source: Australian Census and Temporary Entrants Integrated Dataset, 2016.
Median income
In 2016, the median personal weekly income of all temporary residents (aged 15 years and over) was $542 per week.
The median varied across the different visa groups:
- Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders had the highest median personal weekly income - $1,143 per week.
- Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders had a median personal weekly income of $814.
- Working Holiday Makers had a median personal weekly income of $648.
- Other Temporary visa holders had a median personal weekly income of $486 a week.
- The lowest median income of $236 per week was recorded by Student visa holder who had lower rates of employment and mainly worked part time.
Housing
- In 2016, most temporary residents (97%) lived in private dwellings, though 10% of Working Holiday Makers and 6% of Student visa holders lived in non-private dwellings (such as Residential colleges, Boarding houses and Boarding schools).
- Of those in private dwellings, 70% lived in rented accommodation and a further 28% in properties that were owned outright or with a mortgage.
- Most Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders were living in rental accommodation at 88%.
- 80% of Working Holiday Makers and 78% of Student visa holders were living in rental properties.
- 42% of Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visa holders were living in properties that were fully owned or being purchased which may reflect their ability to settle and stay in Australia indefinitely.