Migrants are less likely that native born Australians to be working in a job linked to their qualifications, according to a new report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

But migrants and refugees are contributing significantly to the workforces of several key sectors, the report says.

The report looked at data from n 2018-19, when around 8.8 million people aged 15 years and over were employed and had obtained a non-school qualification.

“Of these, over two thirds (69 per cent or 6.0 million) were working in the same field as their non-school qualification. This proportion was lower for those born overseas (65 per cent or 2.0 million) than for those born in Australia (70 per cent or 4.1 million),” the report said.

The report looked at the reasons why people they were working in jobs not linked to their qualifications.

Australian born people were more likely to report that they were no longer interested in their field of qualification or wanting a career change (32 per cent or 266,800 people); while, for overseas born, a lack of available positions (25 per cent or 137,100 people) was the most reported reason, the report found.

The data showed about three million overseas born people of working age were employed and had attained a non-school qualification. Of these, 14 per cent, or 434,000, attained an additional non-school qualification after arrival.

Nearly half (46 per cent or 201,300) had gained a higher level qualification after arrival. More than a third (34 per cent or 146,600) obtained a lower level qualification after arrival.

And 14 per cent (or 58,500) attained an additional qualification at the same level as before arrival.

The data showed that there were 1.3 million employed working-age permanent migrants who arrived between 2000 and 2016. Most (35 per cent) were employed in professions. 

Around 13 per cent of skilled migrants were employed in each of the managerial technical and trades sectors.

Meanwhile, employed family migrants were most commonly working in professional occupations (19 per cent). A further 16 percent of family migrants were working as community and personal service workers.

Refugee arrivals were most commonly employed as labourers (23 per cent) and community and personal service workers (19 per cent).

The ABS data showed that of the 1.3 million employed permanent migrants aged 15 years and over, three out of four people (78 per cent or 1,005,348) held a non-school qualification. 

Skilled migrants were the most likely to hold a non-school qualification (84 per cent).

Family migrants were less likely to hold a non-school qualification (69 per cent) than skilled migrants and humanitarian migrants were even less likely to hold a non-school qualification (52 per cent), which is consistent with the eligibility criteria for this group.

The most commonly held non-school qualifications by employed permanent migrants aged 15 years and over at the time of the 2016 Census were: Bachelor degrees (40 per cent or 405,100 people); Postgraduate degrees (24 per cent or 236,100 people); Certificates (16 per cent or 161,300 people).

Of the one million employed permanent working age migrants who held a non-school qualification at the time of 2016 Census, 71 per cent (or 712,100) were skilled migrants, the report said. 

Employed permanent skilled migrants were most likely to hold bachelor degrees with 35 per cent or 293,800 people.

The top three fields of study were: management and commerce (27 per cent or 78,300 people); health (19 per cent or 55,700 people); engineering and related technology (17 per cent or 49,400 people), the report said.

Of the 1.0 million employed permanent migrants aged 15 years and over who held a non-school qualification at the time of 2016 Census, 26% (or 256,200) were family migrants. 

Just four per cent of the employed permanent migrants in the study were refugees. They were most likely to have certificate level education (22 per cent or 15,300 people).

The top three fields of study were: Society and Culture (34 per cent or 5,200 people); Engineering and Related Technology (16 per cent or 2,500 people), and; Architecture and Building (13 per cent or 1,900 people).

“Achieving a level of financial independence commensurate with skills is a key indicator of a successful settlement outcome for migrants. Closely related to achieving this outcome is educational attainment. Relevant educational qualifications can help provide a migrant with the necessary skills and qualifications to gain employment in their chosen field of work,” the ABS report said.