Migrant workers still lag behind others in Australian workforce

A new report shows migrant workers are more likely to be employed in lower paid industries regardless of their actual skills.

Last May, a Grattan institute report concluded that: "Sectors such as hospitality rely much more on temporary migrants, especially international students, to fill less-skilled jobs at low wages." The new A-B-S report only underlines the importance of migrant workers to the economy. Source: AAP / DAN HIMBRECHTS/AAPIMAGE

Key Points

• The Australian Bureau of Statistics, has been investigating the nature of the country's workforce for years.
• Its latest report takes new data into account, such as personal income tax, giving a more complete picture of who works where and for how much.
• According to the ABS report, migrant workers held over 26 per cent of all jobs in Australia in the 2019-2020 financial year, while representing almost 30 per cent of the population.

The report focuses on the 2019-2020 financial year and shows the national median annual personal income of migrants was slightly above $45,000 around $7,000 less than the population as a whole.

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