FAMILY MIGRANTS

In 2010-11, permanent migrants with a Family visa generated $10.1 billion in Total income, an increase of 16% in real terms on 2009-10. Family stream migrants were primarily employed as Professionals (17%) who had a median Employee income of $55,543.

Most migrants in the Family stream were primary applicants (93%) and more than one-third were born in the United Kingdom (UK), China* and India. Migrants with a Family visa from the UK generated $2.6 billion in Total income and had the highest median income of $47,268. Whilst Family stream migrants reported the highest median Other income in 2010-11 of $388, they also recorded the largest decrease in median Other income in real terms at 72% when compared with 2009-10 ($1,403).

Family stream migrants accounted for 27% of all Employee income earners and reported $8.8 billion (22%) in Employee income. Males with a Family visa aged 35 and 44 years had a much higher median Employee income ($53,206) than females ($30,043). While the number of Family stream migrants reporting Employee income in this age category was similar for both sexes, males reported almost twice as much Family Employee income ($1.9 billion or 22%) than females ($1.0 billion or 11%).

The following graph presents the median Employee incomes in 2009-10 and 2010-11 of Family stream migrants by age and sex, demonstrating the similarity in the age and sex patterns in income across these two financial years.


Family stream migrants who were primary applicants reported similar median Employee income compared with Skilled secondary applicants, irrespective of gender and whether their visa was granted onshore or offshore (see Table 3). However, comparison of the median incomes of secondary applicants with an offshore Spouse visa, reveals a disparity between these two groups. Family offshore secondary applicants with a Spouse visa reported significantly lower median employee income ($15,000) than Skilled offshore secondary applicants with a Spouse visa ($44,733).

The following table presents a summary of Skilled secondary applicants and Family primary applicants median Employee income reported in 2010-11.

	Skilled Secondary Applicants Median Employee Income	Family Primary Applicants Median Employee Income
	$	$
Onshore applicant	32 043	35 698
Offshore applicant	32 389	32 769
Total applicants	32 240	33 852

Source: Personal Income Tax and Migrants Integrated Dataset (PITMID), 2010-11

When the income of migrants with a Family visa is considered along with gender, more females than males reported income sources. In particular, higher numbers of females recorded Employee income and Investment income in 2010-11. In terms of the amount of income reported in 2010-11, males with a Family visa reported more total income than females for every source of income except total Investment income. This finding is consistent with prior results from the 2009-10 PITMID. Female investors with a Family visa recorded almost double the amount of total Investment income ($309.2 million) when compared with males ($156.2 million). The highest median Investment income was recorded for females aged 55 years and over at $3,299, double that of males in the same age group ($1,642).

Notes

Changes in income from 2009-10 to 2010-11 are in 2010-11 dollars, adjusted using changes in the Consumer Price Index.

*China excludes Special Administrative Regions (SARs) which comprise Hong Kong and Macau (SARs of China) and Taiwan.

Other income (excluding Government pensions and allowances) includes transfer or trust income; foreign investment fund and/or foreign life insurance assurance policy income (in 2009-10 only); controlled foreign company income; foreign salary/pension income; other net foreign source income; and other (including superannuation and annuity income). Data for superannuation and annuities are understated. See Explanatory Notes for more information.