The WA Migrant Experience

When it comes to the experiences of West Australian migrants, there is a continuity of pity stories circulating throughout the media. While threads like racism, employment issues, and mental health remain important topics of discussion, they are not the only ones needing a close-up inspection and dissection. What needs mores discussion is the extremely under-talked-about positive contributions that migrants, particularly Africans in this discussion, are doing for WA’s society and community. Let’s take a look.

Creating Jobs

It shouldn’t be overlooked that immigration in Australia is bringing in the work — and not taking jobs away. Over one-third of all small businesses in Australia are owned by migrants according to CGU’s Migrants Small Business Report (2017).

Bringing More Skill to the Workforce

Two out of three migrants in Australia are skilled according to CGU’s Migrants Small Business Report. The highest percentage of African migrants are heading into Australia in the 25-29 age bracket, with most looking for university/Tafe education and employment. With so much skill being brought into Australia, it is inevitable that public opinion has strongly changed to see immigration is a good thing to the overall well-being of Australia. WA has more Sudanese migrants than NSW and Victoria combined, with many heading towards jobs in WA’s mining sector. Many of the African migrants in Australia who are skilled professionals have benefited such fields as accounting, nursing, and medical practitioner. In fact, there is a continuous increase in long-stay business visas amongst African migrants in Australia, keeping more skills circulating around the country from one to another.

Inevitably, racism does come into play. African migrants are one of the fastest growing group in Australia, but, with it, there still comes some challenges. Particularly, African migrants face issues with employment surrounding issues such as employers preferring Anglo-sounding names, language barriers, as well as other racial-based discriminations. However, despite this, African migrants continue to bring more skill into the Australian workforce, with more policies and procedures being continuously put in place for the benefit of the skilled African migrant.

Contributing to Australia’s GDP

In an SBS article, they not only conclude that Australia’s immigration contributes to Australia’s GDP, but that they do so “handsomely” (Connellan, 2018). The many skilled migrants in Australia contribute to Australia’s GDP by paying taxes, with a study estimating those granted permanent visas in 2014-15 to have a lifetime net contribution of $6.9 billion to the budget. And it doesn’t stop there! Families who were granted permanent visas in this time have also made a $1.6 billion contribution. Migrants are also more likely to contribute more to tax revenue than they claim on government support.

Boosting Regional Population

“A total of 187,000 international migrants have moved into regional areas between 2011 and 2016 helping to stop population decline at 151 Local Government Areas, according to the ABS 2016 Census.”

That’s right! According to ABS 2016 Census, migration has helped significantly in keeping populations up in our regional towns. While our big cities in Australia might catch an eye, it’s important to look after our regional towns too, and migrants seeking life outside of the city do just that. By keeping regional town populations at an increase, this provides community stability and long-term prosperity. For some African migrants, city life just doesn’t suit — therefore, helping to boost our dropping regional town populations.