Historical Migration: The data behind your Australian dream

Australia is an immigration nation and since the first federal immigration portfolio was created in 1945, over 7.5 million people have settled in Australia.

Migrants enter Australia via one of two programs, the Migration Program for skilled and family migrants or the Humanitarian Program. This article focuses on the statistics concerning the skilled program and its streams available.

☝️Click in the left bottom corner to go to the next page. If you have any issues visualising the graphics, please access the full dashboard here.

Historical Migration Statistics: Migration Program

The migration program has been through many changes since its beginning, following the demands and priorities of the country's economic growth.

As the first graphic shows, the family stream was predominant until 1995-1996 when the skill stream took the lead shifting the face of the migration population by focusing on attracting skilled migrants.

Taking a closer look at the two main streams it is possible to see a significant increase in skilled migration. On the other hand, the family stream which had its peak in 1987-1988 experienced a downward trend reaching its lowest point in 1997-1998, and today maintaining nearly the same rate as on its introduction.

The dynamics of the Migration Program shifted from family towards a focus on skilled population, in this line, the skilled program has been the dominant migration program in the country.

The historical migration statistics dashboard shows prospective migrants around the world that Australia offers many opportunities for skilled professionals. In practical terms for prospective migrants, focusing on your studies and your profession can significantly improve your chances to migrate to Australia.

Migration Program Outcome: Skill Stream - Employer Sponsored Visas

The employer sponsored visas are aimed at those who have an employer willing to sponsor them. The second dashboard highlights the top industries and countries leading the way in this visa type.

Considering the sum of data from 2009, the top industries are: accommodation and food service, other services, health care and social assistance, professional, scientific and technical services, and construction.

In regards to countries, the UK continues to provide the largest number of migrant workers, followed by India, the Philippines, China and South Africa.

Migration Program Outcome: Skill Stream - Point Tested Visas

The point tested visas focus on skilled workers who do not have an employer sponsoring them. Migrants are selected on the basis of their nominated occupation, age, skills, qualifications, English language ability and employability.

Taking into account the sum of data from 2009 and highlighting the occupations, the top are: accountants, software and applications programmers, registered nurses, ICT business and systems analysts, and industrial, mechanical and production engineers.

India leads the way as the top source of migrants, followed by China, the UK, Pakistan and the Philippines.

Permanent Migration Places Granted to Formed International Students in Australia

Perhaps the most important data comes from the last dashboard. It highlights the number of permanent places granted to applicants in Australia holding a student visa.

The first graphic shows data from 2015-2016 when the Point Tested visa was dominant, followed by the Partner visa and the Employer Sponsored visa.

During the last few years, the Point Tested visa numbers have gone down significantly, from 9,023 to 5,166. On the other hand, the Employer Sponsored visa has experienced an increase from 2017-2018, from 1,168 to 2,684, which is a similar number as in 2015-2016, as at 2,889.

The dashboard also shows that the most popular visa among student visa holders considering the latest data is the Partner visa.

The second graphic offers a perspective considering the total number of student visa holders versus the number of PR visas granted to student visa holders. The numbers are still very low, and if considering the statistics from 2015-2016, the numbers are decreasing, although there was a slight increase in 2017-2018.