MYAN’s national data snapshot provides an overview of young people aged 12-24 who have arrived in Australia through family, skilled and humanitarian program streams from July 2022 to June 2023. The snapshot is based on data from the Department of Home Affairs.
Key points include:
In 2022-23, the number of young people who settled in Australia reverted to levels comparable to those seen before the COVID-19 pandemic, with 14,757 youth arrivals. In comparison, 13,759 arrived in 2018-19, over 9,000 arrived in both 2019-20 and 2021-22, and only 3,578 arrived in 2020-21.
25% of young people who arrived in Australia in 2022-23 were humanitarian entrants.. Over the past five years, the data indicates a consistent pattern of fewer young people being resettled through the humanitarian stream compared to the family and skilled streams. For instance, youth arrivals through the family stream consistently constitute the largest share (ranging from 40% to 80%) over the last five years.
The top three countries of birth for young people arriving Australia through the Humanitarian Program in 2022-23 were Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Syrian Arab Republic. This trend aligns with the past five years, with Congo being another significant country of birth over this period. Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam were the leading countries of birth for young people entering under the family stream in 2022-23, consistent with the trend observed over the last five years.
New South Wales and Victoria continue to settle the largest numbers of young people – 61% of young people from all the migration streams in 2022-23.
While the main countries of birth for young arrivals exhibit consistency at the national level over the past five years, the distribution of these young people across the country is highly location-specific. For instance, during MYAN’s national consultations with young people in 2023, each location had a unique composition of young individuals born overseas, with distinct proportions and mixes of countries of origin and visa streams.
