The Labour Market
Summary of findings for LSIA 2
Between Wave 1 and Wave 2, participation rates improved considerably - for example the participation rates for Humanitarian migrants increased from 16% to 32%. In Wave 2, Independent migrants had the highest participation rates (92%), closely followed by the Concessional Family/Skilled-Australia Linked group (87%) and the Business Skills and Employer Nomination scheme group (85%).
Unemployment almost halved, from 17% to 10%, between Wave 1 and Wave 2. In Wave 2, there was virtually no unemployment for those from the Business Skills and Employer Nomination scheme. Unemployment rates for Primary Applicants from the Concessional Family/Skilled-Australia Linked groups and the Independent groups were also low - 6% and 7% respectively.
At Wave 2, of the Primary Applicants who were working:
- Over half (51%) of those from the Independent group were working in the professions in their main job.
- Over half (51%) of those from the Business Skills and Employer Nomination scheme groups were working in management/administration and a further 30% were working in the professions in their main job.
- Those from the Concessional Family/Skilled-Australia Linked and Preferential Family/Family Stream group tended to be in lower level jobs. For example, 24% of those from the Preferential Family/Family Stream group and 16% of those from the Concessional Family/Skilled-Australia Linked group were working as Intermediate clerical, sales and service workers in their main jobs.
Compared with jobs held in their former home country, the jobs held in Australia by Primary Applicants shortly after arrival tended, on average, to be slightly less skilled. For example, when looking at the current main job of those from the Independent group, one in eight jobs were either semi-skilled or unskilled. In comparison only around one in thirty jobs held in their former home country were semi-skilled or unskilled.
Selected LSIA 1 comparisons
| LSIA 1 | LSIA 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | Wave 3 | Wave 1 | Wave 2 | |
| Unemployment Rate | ||||
| Preferential Family/Family Stream |
38% | 17% | 21% | 13% |
| Concessional Family/Skilled-Australia Linked | 35% | 10% | 21% | 6% |
| Business Skills & Employer Nomination Scheme | 3% | 2% | 4% | 0% |
| Independent | 25% | 4% | 9% | 7% |
| Humanitarian | 85% | 33% | 75% | 43% |
| Participation Rate | ||||
| Preferential Family/Family Stream |
49% | 58% | 54% | 62% |
| Concessional Family/Skilled-Australia Linked | 80% | 90% | 88% | 87% |
| Business Skills & Employer Nomination Scheme | 84% | 94% | 65% | 85% |
| Independent | 88% | 93% | 89% | 92% |
| Humanitarian | 48% | 66% | 16% | 32% |
| Skill levels in current job (Primary Applicants arriving on a skilled visa) | ||||
| Highly skilled | 56% | 59% | 64% | 69% |
| Skilled | 25% | 24% | 17% | 14% |
| Semi skilled/Unskilled | 19% | 16% | 19% | 17% |
| Attitude to current job | ||||
| Love/like job | 49% | 57% | 54% | 55% |
| Neither like or dislike job | 45% | 41% | 42% | 42% |
| Dislike job | 6% | 2% | 4% | 3% |
Tables and charts for LSIA 2
There are five tables available in PDF format:
- Attitude to main Job at Wave 1 & 2 : Primary Applicant
- Labour Force Status at Wave 1 & 2: Primary Applicant
- Main Occupation in Wave 1 & 2 and former home country: Primary Applicant
- Main difficulty in finding work in Wave 1 & Wave 2: Primary Applicant
- Periods of Unemployment : Primary Applicant