The survey was undertaken to determine how well the Skilled Independent Regional (SIR) (provisional) visa was meeting its objectives. The objectives of the survey were to: monitor the likelihood of SIR visa holders going on to apply for permanent residence in Australia; assess their labour market and settlement outcomes; and assess their contribution to the economic and social wellbeing of the region. The scope of the survey population for wave two was primary applicants who were granted their SIR visa between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2006 and residing in Australia for at least 12 of the 18 months of residence to wave two. Wave one of the survey was conducted for the same population six months after residence in Australia (arrival or grant of visa onshore).
The overall labour market outcomes were significantly better over the 12 month period to wave two. There was a dramatic increase in the employment rate, from 84.7 per cent at wave one to 97.8 per cent at wave two. The employment rate for wave two was higher than the national average during the survey period of 95.7 per cent. The participation rate was also high at the 99 per cent level for both the waves. This was also well above the national benchmark of 65 per cent during the time of the survey. The likelihood of jobs being skilled varied with different characteristics. For instance those born in a Main English Speaking (MES) country were much more likely to be working in a skilled occupation than the non-MES country-born, 95.5 per cent compared to 67.1 per cent respectively. Having a skilled occupation also increased with age, the 20-24 age group had a lower rate of holding a skilled job (60.7 per cent) compared to the 40 and over age group (92.4 per cent). The top five occupations of the SIR primary applicants were among the skilled or semi-skilled occupations - computing professionals (9.2 per cent), marketing and advertising professionals (2.7 per cent), special care workers (2.1 per cent), accountants (1.9 per cent) and secondary school teachers (1.7 per cent). SIR primary applicants were generally positive towards their job. Only 1 per cent of those employed reported their job as being bad or really bad. Those who had a similar occupation as nominated in their SIR visa application had a very favourable attitude towards their job compared to those who were employed in a different occupation.
After employment outcomes, income is a good indicator of the success of the settlement in Australia of new migrants. The median income at wave two for SIR Primary Applicants was $42 100. There was a significant improvement in the median income between wave one and two, an increase of $4000. The people most likely to have higher income can be classified as males, the older cohort, offshore SIR applicants, MES country-born, those with higher International English Language Test Scores (IELTS) and those employed in their nominated occupation.
Excerpt from publication.
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