Better Outcomes for Recent Migrants
The success of Australia’s skilled migration program is confirmed in two new migration publications, Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs, Senator Amanda Vanstone, said today.
Senator Vanstone said the reports, by Professor Sue Richardson, showed that migrants were highly successful, happy with their lives and contributing to Australia very soon after arriving here.
The report The Changing Labour Force Experience of New Migrants reveals skilled migrants are achieving very high levels of employment soon after arriving in Australia.
‘95 per cent of skilled migrants who arrived in Australia between September 1999 and August 2000 were employed within 18 months of their arrival in Australia,’ Senator Vanstone said.
‘They are achieving a higher labour market success and are earning more than migrants who came to Australia in the mid 1990s - their average incomes were nearly $100 per week higher in real terms. They also have higher rates of home-ownership and better quality housing,’ she said.
The second publication, The Changing Settlement Experience of New Migrants, paints a positive picture of how happy new migrants are with their new lives in Australia.
‘Around 94 per cent of migrants who arrived here in the late 1990s were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ when asked how they felt about their life in Australia,’ Senator Vanstone said.
In 2003-04, the Australian Government’s Migration Program granted the largest number of visas in over a decade – 114 360, an increase of 6300 on the previous year.
‘In particular, we attracted a record number of skilled migrants, with 71,243 arriving in 2003-04 compared to 66,050 in 2002-03,’ Senator Vanstone said.
‘Not only are we attracting more skilled migrants than ever before, but these publications show that they are also happy with their lives in Australia and are becoming highly successful.
‘Our skilled migration initiatives are increasingly matching the needs of individual states, territories and regions, and these publications are a resounding endorsement of Australia’s migration program,’ she said.
