New migrants content with life down under

Over two-thirds of new migrants to Australia are positive about life there, although not too many are taken by the Australian people themselves, reveals a new survey.

Australian LifeAccording to the Mapping Social Cohesion report, conducted by Monash University’s ProfessorAndrew Markus, the majority of migrants (81 per cent) who arrived to live in Australia between 2000 and 2010 are positive about life in the country.

However, only 3 per cent of the migrants nominated having caring, friendly and hospitable neighbours as their main reason for satisfaction with their new life – a significant change from a similar survey carried out 15 years ago, which showed that friendly Aussies were the most appealing part about moving Down Under.

What’s more, more than 41 per cent of migrants from non-English speaking backgrounds said they had experienced discrimination in the last year.

australian_flag_by_maddieAsked what they liked most about Australia, 24 per cent of migrants nominated the Australian lifestyle as their first choice, 18 per cent said the standard and cost of living here, 12 per cent said human rights and freedoms, and 9 per cent liked the weather.

Professor Markus said the immigrant experience had been transformed by the communication revolution brought about by low-cost mobile phones and the internet.

“Some seven out of 10 recent migrants are in frequent contact with overseas relatives and friends and close to 45 per cent of migrants from a number of Asian countries visit their former home countries at least once a year,” Professor Markus said. “However, this does not necessarily result in disengagement from Australian society,” he added.