Refugees are overwhelmingly settling well in Australia with increasing rates of employment rates and English language over the past decade, according to a landmark study into humanitarian settlement outcomes in Australia.

The ‘Building a New Life in Australia’ (BNLA) study by the Australia Institute of Family Studies, found the proportion of 15 to 64-year-old refugees in work increased seven-fold over the ten years of the study. Workforce participation rates among refugees increased from 22 per cent in 2013, to 54 per cent in 2023.

Almost 40 per cent of refugees owned their own homes or were paying off a mortgage; and there were high levels of life satisfaction among those surveyed.

Overall, the study shows refugees are increasingly settling successfully in Australia but face challenges around the rising cost of living and access to affordable housing. 

It found 54 per cent of refugee surveyed were proficient in spoken English, representing a 20 per cent increase over the span of the study, which ran between 2013 and 2023.

And 85 per cent of people under the age of 35 reported speaking English well or very well by year 10 of the survey – and the vast majority of all participants (92 per cent) reported they felt safe in their local neighbourhood.

Over the period of the study, more than a third (35 per cent) of participants completed some form of education or job training in Australia.

But women refugees were significantly less likely than men to be in work, as well as those with health problems and people who had limited work experience or education before arriving in Australia, the study found.

“Most humanitarian migrants reported feeling connected to Australian society, but wider social and economic pressures may be eroding this sense of connection,” the study said.

“Nearly half (49 per cent) of study participants had friends from a mix of cultural backgrounds in year 10, and over three-quarters (76 per cent) reported that they felt part of the Australian community ‘most of the time’ or ‘always’.”

But the study found financial hardship and insecure of unaffordable housing was affecting refugees’ well-being and self-agency.

In each year of the study, around 30 to 40 per cent of participants reported experiencing financial hardship, but the proportion of participants reporting financial hardship decreased between 2013 and 2018 and then remained static between 2018 and 2023.

The cohorts most likely to be reliant on government payments were women, people aged over 55 and people with low levels of pre-arrival education, work experience or language skills.

At the end of the survey period, 37 per cent of survey participants owned their home or were paying off a mortgage, and 42 per cent held a rental lease of more than six months.

Among those renting, 43 per cent were suffering financial hardship in the past year, compared to 26 per cent of mortgagees or homeowners.

Most refugees surveyed (59 per cent) said they were in good, very good or excellent health, while 41 per cent said their health was between fair and very poor.

Employed refugees were 20 per cent more likely to be in good health compared to those not employed. Good health was 19 per cent higher among people proficient in spoken English.

At the end of survey period, 27 per cent of respondents reported having a disability, injury or long-term health condition – slightly higher than the proportion for the general Australian population at 21 per cent.

Thirty per cent of the surveyed group met the criteria for PTSD with unemployment, older age, loneliness and a lack of English cited as contributory factors.

Despite the health and economic challenges faced by refugees in Australia, the survey found high levels of life satisfaction. The average life satisfaction score was 7.5 out of 10.

The study makes several recommendations including: intensive early language support for refugees who need it; settlement support that responds to changes over the course of someone’s life; a recognition that not all refugees will seek employment, and; unlocking the potential of skilled refugees.

“English teaching materials, curriculum and pedagogical approaches may require adaptations for learners from a range of backgrounds, particularly for refugees with limited prior education and literacy in their first language,” the study says.

“These findings suggests that policy investments may yield maximum returns during the first 5 years, giving humanitarian migrants the best chance to reach their potential.”

The study’s report says “humanitarian migrants are not an homogenous group. Like other migrant populations, humanitarian entrants require services and supports that are tailored to their unique backgrounds, rather than their visa class or mode of arrival”.

“The settlement outcomes for humanitarian migrants discussed in this report must be situated within the wider Australian context that includes cost of living and housing affordability pressures, with possible impacts on social cohesion. The socio-economic position of refugees during settlement – and the government support they require – may have parallels with other Australians facing disadvantage,” it says.

“Overall, the analysis shows some significant developments among participants across key indicators of employment and labour force participation, the acquisition of spoken English skills, completion of education and training, social connections and health outcomes.

The report also highlights settlement and integration challenges for some groups. After 10 years, gaps remain between men and women in many key areas, between younger and older migrants, and between people who arrived in Australia with some ‘human capital’ and those who did not.

“Participants who experienced trauma, health problems or disability at any time after arriving in Australia also fared worse than their counterparts who were in good health. Despite these challenges, most BNLA participants reported feeling part of the Australian community and had high levels of satisfaction with their lives in Australia,” the study said.

Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, Julian Hill MP said: “This landmark study confirms Australia’s targeted settlement services model provides critical support to refugees, helping them build new lives in Australia and get a fair crack at life here”.

“Generations of migrants and refugees have helped to build our country and I am proud the government continues to invest in quality support for new arrivals,” Minister Giles said.

Lead author and Senior Research Fellow at AIFS, Dr John van Kooy, said although the report revealed a positive settlement experience for many refugees, it also highlighted key areas of focus for governments and policymakers – including supporting women, who consistently report poorer settlement outcomes than men.

“We saw workforce participation rates increase significantly over time for many – however barriers remain for people with low education and English skills on arrival, and those with limited pre-arrival work experience,” Dr van Kooy said.

“Women, in particular, had lower levels of work experience, education and language skills on arrival – and by the tenth year of the study, were 59% less likely to be employed than men.”

Dr van Kooy said many new arrivals who are ready to work need support for their potential to be ‘unlocked’.

“Of those participants who did have work experience before arriving in Australia, 55% had been managers, professionals, technicians or trade workers,” Dr van Kooy said.

Around 2,400 humanitarian migrants were surveyed over a 10-year period, starting when their first visas were granted in 2013, as part of Building a New Life in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants (BNLA) – the largest longitudinal study of humanitarian migrants in Australia. The research was conducted by AIFS on behalf of the Department of Social Services.  

Read the full report: Building a New Life in Australia | Australian Institute of Family Studies