2
May 2022
PDF version [237KB]
Dr Susan
Love
Social Policy
The Department of Home Affairs has gradually been
expanding and adapting its statistical products. This quick guide looks at
available immigration data and where to find it, including some relatively new
reports. It sets out selected visa data sources and reports published by the
Department of Home Affairs on the permanent Migration
Program, the permanent Humanitarian
Program, temporary visa programs, and citizenship.
Most of the available information is either on the Home Affairs website in the form of
written statistical reports, or on the Australian Government’s data.gov.au
website in the forms of Excel spreadsheets or pivot tables.
Below are listed some of the key products. When using
these, please be aware of the relevant notes and caveats in each document. A
pivot table user guide is available on the relevant data.gov.au webpages.
Overview reports
The Administration of the Immigration
and Citizenship Programs
Reports: The
Administration of the Immigration and Citizenship Programs
First issued in 2019, this report provides a useful
starting point for information on Home Affairs’ immigration functions and
programs. It covers the Migration and Humanitarian programs and temporary
visas, as well as other migration-related issues including citizenship, people
smuggling, migrant worker exploitation, and visa cancellations. It presents
details of policy and operational matters, and discusses current issues (such
as responses to the COVID‑19 pandemic). It provides data in table and
chart formats on numbers of visa applications lodged, visas granted, and
breakdowns by program, category and other characteristics.
The ninth
edition of the report was published in February 2022, with data up to 31
December 2021. Shorter addendums with updated data are published approximately
monthly. Previous editions are also available on the website, although the
earlier editions are less comprehensive.
Australia’s Migration Trends
Reports: Australia’s
Migration Trends, Home Affairs Migration
Program statistics webpage, annual
Data: Australian
Migration Statistics, data.gov.au
spreadsheet, annual since 2016–17 (covers previous years)
Australia’s Migration Trends covers a similar range
of data as the Administration report above. It has been produced
(almost) annually since 2010–11. In recent years, it has taken the form of a
‘highlights’ report with summary visa statistics. Earlier editions contained
more explanations of program settings and more detailed presentations of data,
a role now seemingly filled by the Administration report. Recent data is
available in the Australian Migration Statistics spreadsheet.
Annual Reports
Reports: Annual
Reports
Some information on visa and citizenship processing is
available in the Home Affairs Annual
Report 2020–21, as part of the Department’s performance measures reporting (refer
to Part 2). The amount of statistical information in Home Affairs (and its
predecessor departments) annual reports varies considerably over the years.
Migration Program
Report on Migration Program
Reports: Report
on Migration Program, Home Affairs Migration
Program statistics webpage, annual since 2009–10
Data: Permanent
Migration Program (Skilled & Family) Outcomes Snapshot – Annual Statistics
2011–12 to 2020–21,
data.gov.au pivot table
The Report on the Migration Program provides tables
and charts of visa activity in the Migration Program categories including
lodgements, grants, on-hand applications and grant rates This data is broken
down including by top countries of citizenship, state or territory of intended
residence, and state and territory breakdowns by visa category.
Although the report has been published annually since 2009–10,
the dataset has only this year been made available on data.gov.au in pivot
table format. The dataset is for visas granted (not applications), but the
pivot table options include type or subclass of visas, age group, gender,
citizenship country, intended state or territory of residence and (where
relevant) occupation.
For an overview of the Migration Program, see also the
Library’s Australia's
Permanent Migration Program: a quick guide.
Historical Migration Statistics
Data: Historical
Migration Statistics data.gov.au spreadsheet, updated annually
This dataset presents permanent migrant arrivals and
additions to Australia since 1945, including by migration stream and country of
origin/citizenship. It also includes Humanitarian Program visas granted by
category since 1977–78.
Humanitarian Program
Reports: Australia’s
Offshore Humanitarian Program, annual since 2019–20;
Onshore Humanitarian Program, annual since 2017–18,
Home Affairs Humanitarian
Program statistics webpage
Data: Australian
Migration Statistics data.gov.au spreadsheet, annual since 2016–17 (covers
previous years)
The Australia’s Offshore Humanitarian Program report
provides a relatively detailed overview of subclass lodgements, finalisations
and grants of visas in the Refugee and Special Humanitarian categories for the
last 5 years, including top 10 countries of origin/residence. It also contains
processing times and information on the Community
Support Program.
The Onshore Humanitarian Program report is a one-page
summary of permanent Protection visa statistics.
These reports do not include temporary protection visas or
asylum seeker information. The Australian Migration Statistics spreadsheet does
have a table of Temporary Protection visas (TPVs) and Safe Haven Enterprise visas
(SHEVs) granted but only for the past 2 years. Further information on TPVs and
SHEVs is available in the Temporary visa holders in Australia dataset
(see below) and in the Legacy Caseload reports on the Humanitarian
Program statistics webpage.
Temporary visas
The Administration and Australia’s Migration
Trends sources have some information on temporary visa programs, however,
both the Home Affairs statistics webpage and data.gov.au have more detailed
reporting. The pivot tables on data.gov.au allow detailed breakdowns of visas
and characteristics over time. The program reports on the Home Affairs
statistics webpage are generally half-yearly and provide some information on
the particular temporary visa program settings, as well as analysis and data
presented in charts and tables.
Temporary visa holders in Australia
Data: Temporary
visa holders in Australia, data.gov.au pivot table, currently updated
monthly
This dataset provides quarterly snapshots of the number of
visa holders in Australia on a temporary visa as at the given date. This
includes New Zealand citizens (Special
Category visa holders) and Temporary Protection visa holders.
Visitor visas
Report: Visitor visa program report, Home Affairs
visa
statistics ‘visit’ webpage
Data: Visitor
visas granted, data.gov.au pivot table
Working Holiday Makers
Report: Working
Holiday Maker visa program report, Home Affairs visa
statistics ‘visit’ webpage
Data: Working
Holiday Maker visas granted, data.gov.au pivot table
Students and Temporary Graduates
Report: Student
visa and Temporary Graduate visa program report, Home Affairs visa
statistics ‘study’ webpage
Data: Student
visa program, data.gov.au pivot tables:
Student visas lodged; Student visas granted; Student visas grant rates
Temporary
Graduate visa program, data.gov.au pivot tables:
Temporary Graduate visas lodged; Temporary Graduate visas granted
Temporary work visas
Report: Temporary resident (skilled) report, Home
Affairs visa statistics ‘work’
webpage
Data: Temporary
Work (Skilled) visa program, data.gov.au pivot tables:
Temporary Work (Skilled) visas granted; Temporary Work (Skilled) visa holders
(visa
holders currently in Australia)
(Note: visa subclasses 457 and 482 only)
Visa processing times
Some information on visa processing and waiting times for
applications to be finalised is given in the Administration
report (in-text discussion) and the Report
on the Migration Program (numbers of applications on-hand as at 30
June).
The Home Affairs webpage has more detailed information on visa
processing times and processing priorities. This includes a searchable
list by visa subclass. Processing times are expressed by the timeframe (in days
or months) for a given percentage of applications for a particular visa
subclass to be processed. For example, as at 29 March 2022, 50% of Skilled
Independent (subclass 189) visas were processed within 5 months and 90% were
processed within 35 months.
Note that the website offers the latest available
processing times only (updated approximately monthly), not trends or changes
over time. Processing timeframes are not available for all visas.
Citizenship applications
The Home Affairs citizenship
statistics webpage gives numbers of citizenship conferrals and the top 10 prior
nationalities, but only for the most recent year. Citizenship
processing times are available elsewhere on the Home Affairs website. The Australian
Migration Statistics dataset
has a table of citizenship conferrals by gender for the top 15 countries of prior
nationality, but only for the year of publication.
The Home Affairs Annual
Report 2020–21 provides citizenship conferrals over the past 5 years (as well
as other citizenship processing data), but does not include prior nationality
(p. 82).
The Administration
report has data on citizenship processing for the past 10 years, but this is by
number of applications finalised and approved (or otherwise), rather than
actual conferrals (an approved applicant must usually attend a citizenship
ceremony to be conferred citizenship).
Further sources
Additional migration-related data is available from the
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): see the publication Overseas
Migration as a starting point. This provides an overview of net
overseas migration and arrivals and departures from Australia (in contrast to
the Home Affairs data which is primarily focused on visa grants). It includes downloadable
data and links to related ABS publications.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.
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