Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria JULY 214 JUNE 215 The Centre for Multicultural Youth is a Victorian not-for-profit organisation supporting young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds. As part of our role in resourcing the sector, CMY produces an annual information sheet on youth arrivals to Victoria. 1. Overview The information presented here is derived from statistics collated by the Department of Social Services (DSS) based on the records of people arriving in Australia under the Migration Programme as at 3 September 215. Statistics have been sourced directly from the Department of Social Services via the online Settlement Reporting Facility (SRF), which primarily uses on-arrival data supplemented by data from the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), Medicare and other relevant sources. This data is subject to a number of caveats that should be considered when reviewing this information. 1 Additionally, young people can be very mobile and the data reported in this information sheet needs to be seen as indicative. The following information should be read in conjunction with this Information Sheet: Terms:»» young people refers to those aged between 12 to 24 years (data available through existing Government reporting facilities only allows a breakdown of 12 24 years);»» youth arrivals refers to young people who have received a permanent visa under Australia s Migration Programme;»» humanitarian youth refers to young people who have received a permanent visa under Australia s Special Humanitarian Programme. Data was provided by the Department of Social Services on 3 September 215, all data presented is accurate as at this date within noted caveats of the Settlement Reporting Facility (SRF) 2 ; The statistics provided refer to financial years and not calendar years, with the year reported referring to Settlement Date. (Settlement Date is date of visa grant for settlers who were in Australia when their visa was granted and date of arrival in Australia for settlers who were overseas when their visa was granted.) The visa sub-classes included under the Humanitarian Programme in this Information Sheet include: 2 (Refugee), 21 (In-country special humanitarian programme), 22 (Global special humanitarian programme), 23 (Emergency rescue), 24 (Woman at risk) and 866 (Protection visa). 3 1 Details can be found at https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/settlement-and-multicultural-affairs/programs-policy/settlementservices/settlement-reporting-facility 2 Ibid. 3 For more information on these visas please visit http://www.border.gov.au/trav/refu/offs/refugee-and-humanitarian-visas
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 2 2. How many young people are settling in Victoria? Each year Australia offers permanent visas to almost 2, people under one of three migration programmes (or streams): Humanitarian Programme, Family Programme and the Skilled Programme. 4 More than a quarter of all permanent immigrants to Australia settled in Victoria during the five years from July 21 to June 215. Young people, aged between 12 and 24, made up over one fifth of all arrivals during this period. However, the overall number of young people arriving in Victoria per year has been declining, along with an overall decline in immigrant arrivals to the state (Figure 2). In 214/15, while young people made up less than one fifth of all arrivals to Victoria (Figure 2) they represented more than a quarter of those arriving via the humanitarian stream (Figure 1). Figure 1. Youth arrivals by migration stream, 214/15 2691 (43%) 148 (17%) 2521 (4%) Family Skilled Humanitarian Figure 2. All youth arrivals as a percentage of overall migration to Victoria, 21-215 6 5 Other 12-24 yrs old 4 3 2 1 25% 23% 2% 2% (12, 58) (12, 94) (11, 42) (9,824) 18% 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 (6, 26) 4 See Australian Government immigration website for further information on migration streams www.border.gov.au.
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 3 Figure 3. All youth arrivals by LGA of settlement, Metropolitan Melbourne Top 1 LGAs 214/15 5. Hume, 352 8. Brimbank, 24 9. Moreland, 182 1. Melbourne, 51 4. Wyndham, 376 1. Boroondara, 166 7. Whitehorse, 264 6. Monash, 35 2. Greater Dandenong, 481 3. Casey, 391 Figure 4. All youth arrivals by LGA of settlement, Rural/Regional Victoria Top 5 LGAs 214/15 4. Mildura, 34 5. Wodonga, 18 3. Greater Bendigo, 43 2. Greater Shepparton, 73 Metropolitan Area 1. Greater Geelong, 139
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 4 Of the 6,26 young people from all migration programs (family, skilled and humanitarian) who settled in Victoria during 214/15 there were a large number (15% or 922) for whom a settlement location was not recorded. Of those for whom settlement data was provided, Melbourne, Wyndham, Casey, Greater Dandenong and Hume represent the LGAs where the largest numbers of young people settled on arrival in Victoria. Combined, these five LGAs account for a third of all new youth arrivals to Victoria during 214/15. In contrast, less than one in ten young people settled in rural and regional Victoria during this same period. Of those who did settle outside metropolitan Melbourne, a third settled in Greater Geelong. 5 This data closely reflects the settlement patterns of humanitarian youth arriving in Victoria, which can be found at Section 3.2 (below). Last Remaining and Orphan Relative Visas Many young people who arrive in Australia through the Family and Skilled migration programmes may also come from refugee or refugee-like situations. This means that while their experiences may similarly reflect those of the young people entering through the Humanitarian Programme, they may have less formal structures and supports in place when they begin their settlement journeys in Australia. One group who often will have experienced refugee-like situations are young people arriving through the Last Remaining Relative (115) and Orphan Relative (117) visa categories. These are young people aged 12 to 24 who migrate from a range of countries to live permanently in Australia with a relative or near relative. These young people typically live in Australia in kinship care arrangements and may have particular vulnerabilities related to their pre-migration experiences and their transition to a new country and culture. However, 117 and 115 visa holders are unable to access many of the support services provided to those arriving through the Humanitarian Programme. 6 Young people arriving on 117 and 115 visas have been included in this year s Information Sheet to support service providers and practitioners in their work with this group. During the last financial year, Victoria welcomed 14 young people through the Last Remaining Relative (115) and Orphan Relative (117) visa categories (see Figure 5). This number has remained relatively constant over the five years during 214/15, almost 85% of all young people arriving on this visa came from Somalia (3%), Ethiopia (28%), the Republic of South Sudan (15%), or Afghanistan (11%). Figure 5. Youth arrivals to Victoria by selected visa subclass, 214/15 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 115 593 367 139 79 9 117 2 21 22 23 24 866 Visa Subclasses 5 It is important to note that this data does not accurately account for secondary settlement, which is currently inadequately captured by existing data collection processes. With the addition of such a high proportion of youth for whom location of settlement has not been recorded, this data is indicative only. 6 In a 213 report exploring the unique migration experience of young people on 117 visas, International Social Service (ISS) Australia recommended collaboration between kinship care services and the refugee and migrant settlement sector to specifically support the needs of this newly arrived group of young people. See, Kavanagh, S. (213) Home safe home: A report on children who migrate to Australia. Available at http://iss-ssi.org/29/assets/files/news/issaustralia-homesafehomereport-may213-web.pdf. P. 5
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 5 3. How many young people from refugee backgrounds are arriving in Victoria? Australia resettles up to 13,75 people each year under the Humanitarian Programme. 7 Between July 21 and June 215, 6,279 young people granted visas under the Humanitarian Programme (humanitarian youth) were settled in Victoria (Figure 6). In 214/15, a total of 1,48 humanitarian youth arrived in Victoria, representing 28% of all humanitarian arrivals (3,699) and 17% of the total (6,26) youth arrivals to the state during 214/15 (Figure 1). Figure 6 provides a breakdown of the humanitarian youth arrivals to Victoria by visa subclass for the previous five years to June 215. Figure 6. Humanitarian youth arrivals by selected visa subclass, 21-21 1 8 6 4 866 24 23 22 21 2 2 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 3.1 Where are young people from refugee backgrounds coming from? More than half of the humanitarian youth arriving to Victoria during 214/15 reported their country of birth as Myanmar, Iraq or Afghanistan (Table 1). In 214/15, Syria overtook Iran as a top five reported country of birth for humanitarian youth arrivals in Victoria as the overall number of humanitarian youth arrivals from Syria continued to increase from previous years. 8 7 For further information on Australia s Humanitarian Programme see http://www.border.gov.au/trav/refu/offs/the-special-humanitarian- Programme-(SHP)# 8 In 21/11, less than 1 humanitarian youth arrivals to Victoria reported Syria as their country of birth. See DSS Settlement Reporting Facility for further details, https://www.dss.gov.au/our-responsibilities/settlement-and-multicultural-affairs/programs-policy/settlement-services/ settlement-reporting-facility
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 6 Table 1. Humanitarian youth by reported country of birth (Top 1), 214/15 Country of Birth Number of humanitarian youth Per cent of humanitarian youth MYANMAR 286 27% IRAQ 165 16% AFGHANISTAN 146 14% THAILAND 111 11% SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC 96 9% IRAN 5 5% ETHIOPIA 35 3% ERITREA 3 3% PAKISTAN 23 2% SUDAN 19 2% Figure 5. Humanitarian youth by reported country of birth (Top 1), 21-215 9 AFGHANISTAN MYANMAR IRAQ IRAN PAKISTAN THAILAND SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC ETHIOPIA SRI LANKA DEM. REP. OF THE CONGO 5 1 15 2 214/15 213/14 212/13 211/12 21/11 One in every four humanitarian youth arriving to Victoria in the period July 21 to June 215 were born in Afghanistan. Combined with those from Iran, Iraq and Myanmar, young people from these source countries make up two thirds of all humanitarian youth arriving in Victoria over the last five years. The number of humanitarian youth arriving from Myanmar has more than doubled from July 21 to June 215 (an increase from 133 in 21/11 to 286 in 214/15). However, given the protracted nature of the conflict producing refugees from Myanmar, it is likely that many humanitarian youth reporting Thailand as their country of birth have originated from Myanmar. This would make the number of humanitarian youth settling in Victoria who identify their culture and/or ethnicity with Myanmar much higher than is indicated by country of birth data alone. 1 9 Somalia, Nepal, Bhutan and Egypt are provided here as a reference and to allow for comparison with previous years Information Sheets. 1 Importantly, data on self-reported ethnicity or cultural background is not currently collected and country of birth does not necessarily reflect cultural background. As such, many young people will have been born and/or lived much of their lives in countries not considered their country of origin before migrating to Australia. For example, Thailand continues to host large numbers of refugees and people in refugee-like situations from near-by Myanmar. The UNHCR reports that refugees and forced migrants have sought protection in Thailand for more than 3 years, with over 1, people from Myanmar registered with the UNHCR in Thailand as at January 215. See www.unhcr.org for further information.
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 7 Figure 6. Humanitarian youth by reported country of birth (select countries), 21-215 1 8 Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia Eritrea 6 4 2 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 The number of humanitarian youth arriving in Victoria from the north eastern African countries of Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia declined over the period 21/11 to 213/14, but increased during 214/15 (Figure 6). The number of humanitarian youth arriving in Victoria from Eritrea over the last five years has increased threefold (Figure 6). 3.2 Where are refugee young people settling in Victoria? Many young people and their families move between Local Government Areas (LGAs) 11 in the months and years subsequent to settlement for a variety of reasons. This relocation from an original on-arrival settlement location to another place within the first five years of arriving in Australia is typically referred to as secondary settlement. Secondary settlement data is especially hard to track and has not been used to inform or supplement on arrival settlement data for this Information Sheet. As such, information provided here should be taken as indicative only. 12 In Victoria, the majority (86%) of humanitarian youth for whom an LGA of settlement was recorded were living in the metropolitan areas of Greater Melbourne upon arrival in 214/15, with only 14% of humanitarian youth arriving to rural or regional Victoria. A similar urban/rural split of 83% metropolitan settlement and 17% rural/regional settlement was recorded in 213/14. Metropolitan Victoria Of the 1,48 young people arriving through the Humanitarian Programme in 214/15 there were a small number (less than 1% or 13) for whom a settlement location was no recorded. Almost one quarter (25 or 23%) of the 898 young people from this period who settled in metropolitan Melbourne settled in Hume LGA. This is the second year in a row that Hume has settled the largest number of young people from the Humanitarian Programme arriving in Victoria. This reflects a five year trend across metropolitan settlement locations that have seen the number of humanitarian youth settling in Greater Dandenong, Brimbank and Casey LGAs steadily decrease, while the numbers in Hume, Maroondah and Wyndham LGAs have increased (Figure 7). 11 In reference to LGAs, the Government of Australia uses the following abbreviations for Victoria which are replicated in the data here: Cities (C), Rural Cities (RC), Boroughs (B) and Shires (S). 12 Further information on the challenges of secondary settlement data capture can be found at https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/r/ spn/1161-spn.pdf
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 8 Figure 7. Humanitarian youth by metropolitan LGA of settlement (Top 5), 21-215 4 Greater Dandenong 35 3 25 Hume Casey Brimbank Wyndham 2 15 1 5 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 From July 21 to June 215, the top five metropolitan LGAs of settlement for humanitarian youth have been Greater Dandenong, Hume, Casey, Brimbank and Wyndham (Table 2). Notably, during this period almost one in every five young people settling through the Humanitarian Programme in metropolitan Victoria on-arrival located to Greater Dandenong. Since 212/13, Maroondah has moved in to the list of top five LGAs of recorded settlement for humanitarian youth in Victoria, replacing Wyndham in 212/13, and moving above Brimbank and Casey in 214/15. Table 2. Humanitarian youth by Top 1 metropolitan LGAs of settlement, 21-15 Local Government Area 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 Total GREATER DANDENONG (C) 267 354 241 28 119 1,189 HUME (C) 186 129 176 29 25 95 CASEY (C) 182 185 128 11 7 675 BRIMBANK (C) 98 143 19 63 68 481 WYNDHAM (C) 65 99 72 81 118 435 MAROONDAH (C) 47 69 87 8 16 389 MARIBYRNONG (C) 4 69 45 17 46 217 WHITTLESEA (C) 61 66 34 2 22 23 MELTON (S) 3 3 35 35 27 157 MORELAND (C) 36 25 2 19 17 117 Rural/Regional Victoria In 214/15, 137 young people from humanitarian backgrounds settled in regional or rural Victoria. From July 21 to June 215, eight in every ten humanitarian youth to regional or rural Victoria settled in one of five LGAs Greater Geelong, Greater Shepparton, Greater Bendigo, Mildura or Wodonga. This settlement pattern closely reflects the broader settlement pattern of youth arrivals across regional and rural Victoria (see Table 1 - the exception is Ballarat, which is a top five settlement location for youth arrivals for the period July 21 to June 215). Overall, of all humanitarian youth settling in regional and rural Victoria over the five years from, almost half have settled in Greater Geelong (Figure 8).
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 9 Table 3. Humanitarian youth by Top 5 rural/regional LGAs of settlement, 21-15 Local Government Area 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 Total GREATER GEELONG (C) 59 37 12 67 6 325 GREATER SHEPPARTON (C) 23 28 22 47 17 137 GREATER BENDIGO (C) 16 18 4 29 3 97 MILDURA (RC) 5 11 12 14 21 63 WODONGA (RC) 11 7 14 7 9 48 However, there has been some variation in where humanitarian youth arrivals have settled over this five year period. For example, Greater Shepparton LGA experienced a significant increase during 213/14 while Greater Geelong experienced a sharp increase in 212/13 (Table 3). Figure 8. Humanitarian youth by rural/regional LGA of settlement (Top 5), 21-215 12 Greater Geelong (C) Greater Shepparton (C) 1 Greater Bendigo (C) Mildura (C) 8 Wodonga (C) 6 4 2 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 Figures 7 and 8 give a current representation of the top metropolitan and rural/regional LGAs of recorded settlement for humanitarian youth over the five years to July 215 in Victoria. While there is a pattern as to where humanitarian youth settle in Victoria, these figures suggest that within these locations patterns may be shifting.
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 1 4. What are the characteristics of young people from refugee backgrounds? 4.1 Gender Current data shows that over the two years from June 213 there has been a balancing of the genders among humanitarian youth arriving in Victoria. In 214/15, 49% of humanitarian youth arriving in Victoria were young women (512) and 51% were young men (536). Figure 9. Humanitarian youth by gender, 21-215 12 FEMALE 1 MALE 8 6 4 2 21/11 211/12 212/13 213/14 214/15 4.2 Languages spoken During 214/15, over one third (36%) of all young people arriving in Victoria through the humanitarian programme reported a language originating from Burma as their main language. During this period there was also a slight increase in the percentage of Arabic speakers (from 18% to 2% of the total), while in contrast the number of humanitarian youth reporting as Afghan language (Dari and Hazaragi) speakers fell from a combined percentage of 23% of all humanitarian youth arriving in 213/14 to 14% in 214/15. These changes were accompanied by a decline (of three percentage points) in the number of humanitarian youth who arrived in 214/15 and reported being Farsi speakers. The percentage of humanitarian youth who reported speaking a language orginating from Myanmar (including Burmese, Chin and Karen languages) as their main language increased from 23% in 213/14 to 36% in 214/15. The increase in Ethiopian languages seen in 213/14 also continued during 214/15 and, along with Tigrinya and Chaldean (including Neo-Aramaic, Ethiopian), overtook Somali and Swahili languages in the top ten languages reported by humanitarian youth arriving in Victoria during 214/15 (see Figure 1).
Centre for Multicultural Youth / Information Sheet Youth Arrivals to Victoria July 214 June 215 11 Figure 1. Humanitarian youth by main language spoken (Top 1), 214/15 25 2 15 1 5 Arabic Chin Languages Karen Languages Burmese Languages Dari Hazargi Farsi (Afghan + Persian) Assyrian Ethiopian Languages Tigrinya 4.3 Religion 13 Since July 21, more than half of all humanitarian youth arrivals have reported Shia (33%) and Christian (25%) as their religion. The other most reported religions include: Islam (12%), Chaldean Catholic (6%), Sunni (3%), Buddhism (3%), Hinduism (3%), Catholic (2%) and Assyrian Church of the East (2%), while 3% of all humanitarian youth arriving during this five year period to June 215 did not report a religion. Figure 11 demonstrates a significant shift in the last five years between the top two reported religions. Comparing 21/11 figures to those for 214/15, the number of humanitarian youth arrivals as a percentage of the total reporting their religion as Shia has halved (from 33% to 16%) and the number of humanitarian youth arrivals reporting Christian as their religion has doubled (from 18% to 38%). Figure 11. Humanitarian youth by reported religion, 21/11 compared with 214/15 Shia Christian (NFD) Islam Chaldean Catholic Sunni Buddhism Not Stated Hinduism Catholic (NEC) Assyrian Church of the East 1 2 3 4 5 21/11 214/15 13 Categories reported here are based on self-reported religion from the original (DSS SRF) data source and have not been altered in any way.