There were 1,639,000 temporary visa holders in Australia in August 2021, made up of 1,614,000 temporary residents and 25,000 overseas visitors, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Jenny Dobak, ABS head of migrant statistics, said today’s release offers a unique insight into temporary residents in Australia on Census night 2021. Temporary residents include people residing in Australia for at least 12 months on temporary skilled, student, working holiday and Special Category (New Zealand citizen) visas.
“Today’s data highlights the characteristics of temporary residents in Australia, with results showing that 92 per cent of people were proficient in English,” Ms Dobak said.
“Almost two in five temporary residents, or around 39 per cent, held a bachelor’s degree or higher, with around half of students and just under two-thirds of temporary skilled visa holders holding at least a bachelor’s degree.”
The new data also offers insights into employment, with Carers and Aides (7 per cent) the most common occupation for employed temporary residents. ICT Professionals (12 per cent) was the most common for people who held a temporary skilled visa.
| Occupation | Persons | Proportion (%)(b) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carers and Aides | 66,000 | 6.8 |
| 2 | Road and Rail Drivers | 53,100 | 5.5 |
| 3 | Cleaners and Laundry Workers | 52,500 | 5.4 |
| 4 | Sales Assistants and Salespersons | 47,600 | 4.9 |
| 5 | Food Trades Workers | 47,400 | 4.9 |
| 6 | Business, Human Resource and Marketing Professionals | 45,600 | 4.7 |
| 7 | Specialist Managers | 40,000 | 4.1 |
| 8 | Hospitality Workers | 38,200 | 3.9 |
| 9 | Factory Process Workers | 38,000 | 3.9 |
| 10 | Health Professionals | 34,900 | 3.6 |
- Top 10 by number of persons.
- Occupation not stated has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.
The most common industry of employment for employed temporary residents was Food and Beverage Services (12 per cent), with 23 per cent of students working in the industry.
Around 1.3 million temporary residents lived in capital cities, mainly living in Greater Sydney (26 per cent), Greater Melbourne (24 per cent) and Greater Brisbane (13 per cent).
“Greater Brisbane claimed the highest representation of New Zealand citizens, under the Special Category visa, with a population of 139,600 people,” Ms Dobak said.
| Temporary residents (%) | |
|---|---|
| Greater Sydney | 25.9 |
| Greater Melbourne | 23.7 |
| Greater Brisbane | 13.5 |
| Greater Adelaide | 3.8 |
| Greater Perth | 9.0 |
| Greater Hobart | 1.0 |
| Greater Darwin | 0.7 |
| ACT | 1.8 |
- As a proportion of temporary residents in Australia (including Other Territories, no usual address and migratory, offshore and shipping areas).
