Description of the LSIA Sample
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The sampling unit
The sampling unit for the LSIA is the Primary Applicant. The Primary Applicant is the person upon whom the approval to immigrate was based.
The LSIA samples
The LSIA consists the following three cohorts, or groups:
- LSIA 1 had a sample size of 5192 Primary Applicants
- LSIA 2 has a sample size of 3124 Primary Applicants
- LSIA 3 had a sample size of 9865 Primary Applicants
Composition effects
Migration policy changes mean that the composition of the LSIA 2 sample is different from the LSIA 1 sample. For example, for the period covered by the LSIA 2, skilled migrants made up a greater proportion of the migration program therefore the LSIA 2 sample has a greater proportion of skilled migrants.
Because of this change in sample composition some care must be exercised when comparing the experiences of migrants from LSIA 1 with those from LSIA 2.
LSIA 3 is different again. It does not survey migrants from the humanitarian stream. Unlike the earlier LSIAs, it also includes migrants who were granted their visa onshore and migrants living in regional areas.
Selecting the sample
The samples for LSIA 1 and LSIA 2 were drawn from Primary Applicants on the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs' Settlement Database.
To be eligible for inclusion in the samples, Primary Applicants had to meet the following criteria :
- They were at least 15 years of age
- They were offshore visaed immigrants
- They did not have special eligibility visas
- They were not New Zealand Citizens
- They had an identifiable country of birth
Sample selection for the LSIA 3 was similar,except that onshore migrants were included and the minimum age of migrants was 18 years of age.
Other persons included in the LSIA
The main concern of the LSIA is to collect detailed information about the Primary Applicant. The amount of detailed information about other persons living with the Primary Applicant varies between LSIAs.
For LSIA 1 and LSIA 2
Information is collected for everyone in the household and for the migrating unit as a whole.
A household comprises all persons living at the same address as the Primary Applicant.
A migrating unit comprises all persons in the household who migrated to Australia as part of the same migration application as the Primary Applicant.
Although information is collected for everyone in the household, the amount of detailed information collected for an individual will vary. For example, while detailed information is collected on the Primary Applicant, in most cases only basic demographic information is collected for other people in the household. The rules for determining how much information is collected are as follows:
Information collected
| Type of Information | Amount of Information Collected |
|---|---|
| Information on the Primary Applicant | Detailed information collected from the Primary Applicant |
| Information on the Migrating Unit | |
| Information on the Spouse | The level of detail will vary:
|
| Information on other members of the household | Basic information collected from the Primary Applicant |
For LSIA 3
Information is only collected from the Primary Applicant. There are a small number of questions in the LSIA 3 where the Primary Applicant provides a response on behalf of other members of the household. For example whether their spouse is working or whether their spouse receives any government payments.