Independence in ageing: The social and financial circumstances of older overseas-born Australians
Executive Summary
This report was commissioned during the International Year of Older Persons (1999) by the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. It explores the social and economic circumstances of older (those aged 55 and over) overseas-born Australians, and uses English Proficiency Country Groupings to split out and examine the diversity characteristic of the overseas-born.1
This breakdown into English Proficiency Country (EP) Groups yields a rich source of information useful to policy makers and planners in a range of government departments as well as in both for-profit and not-for-profit organisations. The report aims to provide policy relevant information, but does not undertake policy analysis. A summary of the findings follows.
In 1996, there were 1.1 million people aged 55 and over living in Australia who were born overseas, up from 0.87 million in 1986. They comprised some 31% of the total Australian population aged 55 and over. Almost two thirds of these (59%) were from non-English-speaking countries. Both the proportion of older people who are born overseas, and the proportion born in non-English-speaking countries, are set to increase in the 21st century.
Long-established populations of immigrant origins have a high average age, mainly because their locally born children and grandchildren are counted among the Australian-born. Yet, at ages 55 years and above, the overseas-born population is actually somewhat younger than the Australian-born. This reflects the fact that while large numbers of post-war settlers have been reaching retirement, far fewer have so far advanced into the oldest ages. Migration in later life, especially through family reunion, augments numbers, but the dominant process of growth and change in overseas-born groups is the ageing of people who have lived in Australia for decades.
Most of the growth in the older overseas-born population has so far occurred below age 75, but the age structures imply a future with considerable growth in all older age groups. Thus some future developments are inherent within the current demography of the overseas-born. They include continuing growth in numbers, ongoing change in the ethnic composition of the population and an 'ageing of the aged', which will raise the proportions in more vulnerable situations. The initial decades of the new millennium will witness these trends.
Although diversity is prominent, many groups are small. In 1996 there were only 15 non-English-speaking birthplaces with more than 10,000 persons in Australia aged 55 and over. The largest groups, with 40,000 or more, were from Italy, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands.
1 English Proficiency Country Groups are defined in Box 1.1, Chapter 1 of this report.
[Continue with Executive Summary]
[Return to Publication details]