Migrant settlement outcomes

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Selected economic and social outcomes of permanent migrants

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Reference period
2023
Released
27/09/2023
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Key statistics

  • 82% of migrants in Australia for less than 5 years were proficient in English in 2021, compared with 91% for those in Australia for 10 years or more.
  • Migrants were less likely to earn personal income (70%) compared with the total population of Australia (76%), but also less likely to receive unemployment benefits (11% compared with 13%).

Data sources

This release relates to permanent migrants to Australia. The statistics used are from the following datasets:

Arrival periods

In this release permanent migrants are grouped on the basis of the time since they arrived in Australia. These arrival periods are:

  • arrived within the previous 5 years (migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years)
  • 5 to 10 years since arrival (migrants who lived in Australia for 5 to 10 years)
  • more than 10 years since arrival (migrants who lived in Australia for more than 10 years).

The arrival periods are dependent on the data sources from which they are produced. For example, the arrival period for migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years using 2021 Census data is 2017 to 10 August 2021, whereas using 2022 Medicare Benefits Schedule data, this arrival period is 2018 to 2022.

Australian citizenship

The following section contains data sourced from ACMID. 

In 2021, more than half (59%) of migrants were Australian citizens. Australian citizenship was:

  • highest for Skilled migrants (64%)
  • lowest for Family migrants (48%).

Citizenship take-up increased the longer migrants lived in Australia. It was:

  • 4% for migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years
  • 77% for migrants who lived in Australia for more than 10 years
  • most likely for Humanitarian migrants (89%) who lived in Australia for more than 10 years.
  1. Includes persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later, but who reported a Census year of arrival in Australia prior to 2000.
  2. Arrived 1 January 2017 to 10 August 2021 (Census Night).
  3. Includes migrants with year of arrival not stated and not applicable.
  4. Includes other permanent migrants.

Education

The following section contains data sourced from the Higher Education Information Management System (HEIMS) available in PLIDA. Please refer to the Methodology for more information on the enrolment admissions and course types included in the data presented.

Enrolled in further education

In 2019, for those aged 15-64 years, the proportion of migrants enrolled in further education was 5%, compared with 6% of the total Australian population aged 15-64 years. Enrolment was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (7%)
  • lowest for Family migrants (3%).

Migrants who arrived since 2000 were more likely to be enrolled in study the longer they had lived in Australia. It was:

  • 2% for migrants who had lived in Australia for less than 5 years
  • 7% for migrants who had lived in Australia for more than 10 years
  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (10%) who had lived in Australia for more than 10 years.
  1. Persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later.
  2. Includes migrants with unknown year of arrival.
  3. Includes other and undetermined permanent migrants.

Obtained further education qualifications

Of migrants aged 15-64 years and enrolled in further education, 20% obtained a qualification in 2019, the same proportion as the total Australian population aged 15-64 years. This was:

  • highest for Skilled migrants (21%)
  • lowest for Humanitarian migrants (15%).

Across all visa streams, the proportion of migrants who had obtained a qualification in 2019 was lowest for those who had lived in Australia for less than 5 years. The proportions were:

  • 15% for migrants who had lived in Australia for less than 5 years
  • 19% for migrants who had lived in Australia for 5 to 10 years
  • 20% for migrants who had lived in Australia for more than 10 years.
  1. Persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later.
  2. As a proportion of persons aged 15-64 years enrolled in further education. 
  3. Includes migrants with unknown year of arrival.
  4. Includes other and undetermined permanent migrants.

Economic participation

The following section contains data sourced from Personal Income Tax and unemployment payments data available in PLIDA. Please refer to the Methodology for more information on sources of income included in these statistics.

Personal income

In the 2019-20 financial year, for those aged 15-64 years, the proportion of migrants who earned personal income was 70%, compared with 76% of the total Australian population aged 15-64 years. This was:

  • highest for Skilled migrants (76%)
  • lowest for Humanitarian migrants (49%).

By visa stream, the proportions of migrants who earned personal income varied by length of time in Australia with:

  • Skilled migrants being less likely to earn personal income the longer they lived in Australia
  • Family and Humanitarian migrants being more likely to earn personal income the longer they lived in Australia. For Humanitarian migrants, it was 26% of those who lived in Australia for less than 5 years, increasing to 57% of those in Australia for more than 10 years.
  1. Persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later.
  2. Employee income, own unincorporated business income, investment income, superannuation income and other income.
  3. Includes migrants with unknown year of arrival.
  4. Includes other and undetermined permanent migrants.

Own unincorporated business income

In the 2019-20 financial year, for those aged 15-64 years, the proportion of migrants who earned own unincorporated business income was 11% for all visa streams, the same proportion as the total Australian population aged 15-64 years. This was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants who lived in Australia for 5 to 10 years (16%)
  • lowest for Humanitarian migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years (6%).
  1. Persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later.
  2. Includes migrants with unknown year of arrival.
  3. Includes other and undetermined permanent migrants.

Receiving unemployment payments

In the 2019-20 financial year, for those aged 15-64 years, the proportion of migrants who received unemployment payments was 11%, compared with 13% of the total Australian population aged 15-64 years. This was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (31%)
  • lowest for Skilled migrants (8%).

For migrants overall, proportions who received unemployment payments were similar regardless of time since they arrived in Australia. By visa stream, the proportions:

  • increased for Family migrants the longer they lived in Australia
  • decreased for Humanitarian migrants from almost half (49%) of those who lived in Australia for less than 5 years to just under one quarter (24%) of those in Australia for more than 10 years.

 

  1. Persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later.
  2. Jobseeker Payment, Jobseeker Allowance, Newstart Mature Age Allowance, Newstart Allowance and Rent Assistance Newstart.
  3. Includes migrants with unknown year of arrival.
  4. Includes other and undetermined permanent migrants.

English proficiency

The following section contains data sourced from ACMID. 

In 2021, the proportion of migrants who were proficient in English, that is they only spoke English or spoke English well or very well, was 89% for migrants overall. English proficiency was:

  • highest for Skilled migrants (96%)
  • lowest for Humanitarian migrants (71%).

English proficiency tended to rise as time living in Australia increased. English proficiency was:

  • 82% for migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years
  • 91% for migrants who lived in Australia for more than 10 years
  • least likely for Humanitarian migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years (56%).
  1. Includes persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later, but who reported a Census year of arrival in Australia prior to 2000.
  2. Speaks English not well or not at all.
  3. Arrived 1 January 2017 to 10 August 2021 (Census Night).
  4. Includes migrants with year of arrival not stated and not applicable.
  5. Includes other permanent migrants.

Health

The following section contains data sourced from the Medicare Benefits Schedule and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) data available in PLIDA.

Age and entry requirements

Age, visa eligibility criteria, the intended field of occupation, and pre-arrival health screening may all influence rates of service use (i.e. some migrants may be more likely to be healthy and may be less likely to need to interact with a health service because of this). More information about visa eligibility and occupational requirements can be found in Working in Australia. More information about pre-arrival health screening can be found in Meeting our health requirement.

Note too that this data refers to migrants who arrived since 2000 and to a younger population than the overall Australian population.

Medicare benefits

In 2022, the proportion of migrants who received bulk billed Medicare benefits was 81%, compared with 88% of the total population of Australia. This was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (89%)
  • lowest for Skilled migrants (80%)
  • slightly lower the longer migrants lived in Australia.
  1. Persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later.
  2. Includes migrants with unknown year of arrival.
  3. Includes other and undetermined permanent migrants.

Pharmaceutical benefits

In 2022, the proportion of migrants who used pharmaceutical benefits was 56%, compared with 67% of the total population of Australia. This was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (64%)
  • lowest for Skilled migrants (52%).

Use of pharmaceutical benefits increased the longer migrants lived in Australia, in keeping with increased access to benefits as people age. The proportions were:

  • 51% for migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years
  • 56% for migrants who lived in Australia for more than 10 years.
  1. Persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later.
  2. Includes migrants with unknown year of arrival.
  3. Includes other and undetermined permanent migrants.

Medicare or pharmaceutical benefits received in hospital

Pharmaceutical benefits prescribed by a GP

Housing

The following section contains data sourced from ACMID and Census. The data relates to people in occupied private dwellings, excluding visitor only and non-classifiable households.

Housing tenure

Migrants tended to transition from living in rented housing to owning their homes.

In 2021, the proportion of migrants who owned their home with a mortgage or outright was 62%, compared with 69% for the total population of Australia. Home ownership was:

  • highest for Skilled migrants (65%)
  • lowest for Humanitarian migrants (38%).

Home ownership increased the longer migrants lived in Australia. The proportions were:

  • 38% for migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years
  • 71% for migrants who lived in Australia for more than 10 years.
  1. Owned outright, owned with a mortgage, or purchased under a shared equity scheme.
  2. Includes persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later, but who reported a Census year of arrival in Australia prior to 2000.
  3. Arrived 1 January 2017 to 10 August 2021 (Census Night).
  4. Includes migrants with year of arrival not stated and not applicable.
  5. Includes other permanent migrants.

Housing affordability

One way of examining housing affordability is to look at households whose spending on housing is likely to impact on their ability to afford other living costs such as food, clothing, transport and utilities. A common threshold applied is the proportion of households spending greater than 30% of their income on housing costs. For more information on housing affordability, refer to Rent affordability indicator or Mortgage affordability indicator.

Rent affordability

In 2021, the proportion of migrants in rented housing who spent more than 30% of their household income on rent was 28%, compared with 30% of all renters in Australia. This was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (46%)
  • lowest for Skilled migrants (19%).

Overall, length of time in Australia did not decrease the likelihood of migrants paying more than 30% of their household income on rent. The proportions were:

  • 27% for migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years
  • 30% for migrants who lived in Australia for more than 10 years.

Humanitarian migrants were the exception with proportions decreasing over time.

  1. Includes persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later, but who reported a Census year of arrival in Australia prior to 2000, and who lived in rented dwellings.
  2. As defined by the Census variable Rent affordability indicator (RAID).
  3. Arrived 1 January 2017 to 10 August 2021 (Census Night).
  4. Includes migrants with year of arrival not stated and not applicable.
  5. Includes other permanent migrants.

Mortgage affordability

In 2021, the proportion of migrant homeowners with a mortgage who paid more than 30% of their household income on mortgage repayments for their dwelling was 21%, compared with 14% of people in Australia who owned their home with a mortgage. This was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (33%)
  • lowest for Skilled migrants (18%)
  • similar regardless of time since migrants arrived in Australia.
  1. Includes persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later, but who reported a Census year of arrival in Australia prior to 2000, and who lived in dwellings owned with a mortgage or purchased under a shared equity scheme.
  2. As defined by the Census variable Mortgage affordability indicator (MAID).
  3. Arrived 1 January 2017 to 10 August 2021 (Census Night).
  4. Includes migrants with year of arrival not stated and not applicable.
  5. Includes other permanent migrants.

Crowded housing

Crowded housing is when one or more extra bedrooms are needed to accommodate the people who usually live there, as defined by the Census variable Housing suitability (HOSD), based on the Canadian National Occupancy Standard (CNOS). However, CNOS does not take into consideration that for many cultures, living in multi‑generational extended families is a cultural norm.

In 2021, the proportion of migrants who lived in crowded housing was higher for migrants (11%) than the total population of Australia (7%). This was:

  • highest for Humanitarian migrants (34%)
  • lowest for Skilled migrants (8%).

The likelihood of living in crowded housing decreased the longer migrants lived in Australia and was:

  • most likely for migrants who lived in Australia for less than 5 years (17%)
  • least likely for migrants who lived in Australia for more than 10 years (9%).
  1. Includes persons whose Settlement Data date of arrival was 1st January 2000 or later, but who reported a Census year of arrival in Australia prior to 2000.
  2. Housing that required one or more extra bedrooms to accommodate the people who usually lived there, as defined by the Census variable Housing suitability (HOSD), based on the Canadian National Occupancy Standard (CNOS).
  3. Arrived 1 January 2017 to 10 August 2021 (Census Night).
  4. Includes migrants with year of arrival not stated and not applicable.
  5. Includes other permanent migrants.

Data download

Migrant settlement outcomes, 2023

Data files
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Methodology

Scope

Migrants who arrived in Australia from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2021 and had a permanent visa as their last held visa.

Geography

Data published at national level.

Source

  • Administrative data sourced from Person-Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA)
  • Census of Population and Housing
  • Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset (ACMID)

Collection method

Data are compiled from:

  • Census data collected from the Australian population every 5 years
  • data from the Census and Person-Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA) linked with the Department of Home Affairs Settlement Database.

Concepts, sources and methods

Permanent migrants include:

  • Skilled migrants
  • Family migrants
  • Humanitarian migrants
  • Other and undetermined migrants.

History of changes

Not applicable for this release.

View full methodology