GLOSSARY

Australian resident

An Australian resident is self defined as reported by travellers when completing a passenger card. From 1 July 2007, Resident departures include all Australian citizens, permanent visa holders, and any New Zealand citizens who can be identified as a resident.

Category of movement

Overseas Arrivals and Departures data are classified according to length of stay (in Australia or overseas), as recorded by travellers on passenger cards, or derived with reference to previous border crossings. There are three main categories of movement and 10 sub-categories:

• permanent movement;
  • permanent arrival (PA)
  • permanent departure (PD) - only available prior to July 2007.

• long-term movement - has a duration of stay (or absence) of one year or more; and
  • long-term resident return (LTRR)
  • long-term visitor arrival (LTVA)
  • long-term resident departure (LTRD)
  • long-term visitor departure (LTVD).

• short-term movement - has a duration of stay (or absence) of less than one year;
  • short-term resident return (STRR)
  • short-term visitor arrival (STVA)
  • short-term resident departure (STRD)
  • short-term visitor departure (STVD).

A significant number of travellers on the first leg of their journey (i.e. overseas visitors on arrival to Australia) state exactly 12 months or one year as their intended duration of stay. The majority of these travellers actually stay for less than their intended duration of stay and on their departure from Australia are therefore classified as short-term movements (i.e. less than 12 months) at the second leg of their journey. Accordingly, in an attempt to maintain consistency between an arrival and the corresponding departure, and improve the quality of statistics on the duration of stay measurement, movements of travellers who report their intended duration of stay as being exactly one year automatically have their duration of stay imputed. The duration of stay of these travellers is imputed using the actual recorded duration of stay from donors who have similar characteristics from two years earlier.

Country of birth

Country of birth refers to the country in which a person was born in. For Overseas Arrivals and Departures data, the country of birth is usually collected from a traveller's passport or visa information.

Country of citizenship

Country of citizenship is the nationality of a person. For Overseas Arrivals and Departures data it is usually taken from a traveller's passport or visa information and in some cases from the passenger card.

Country of embarkation

Country of embarkation is collected from the country a traveller indicates on their passenger card from answering the following question:

• For someone arriving in Australia - In which country did you board this flight or ship?

Country of residence/stay

Country of residence/stay is collected from the country a traveller indicates on their passenger card.

• For overseas visitors to Australia, it is their country of residence prior to travel as recorded on their passenger card or visa.
• For Australian residents, it is the country they spent most time abroad (i.e. their country of stay).

Departures SmartGate system

Departures SmartGate is a secure system that automates the checks otherwise conducted by a Border Force officer at Australian airports. Departing travellers use SmartGates to self-process through passport control at Australia's International airports.

Intended length of stay

On arrival in Australia, all overseas visitors are asked to state their 'Intended length of stay in Australia'.

Long-term arrivals

Long-term arrivals comprise long-term visitor arrivals (LTVA) and long-term resident returns (LTRR).

Long-term departures

Long-term departures comprise long-term resident departures (LTRD) and long-term visitor departures (LTVD).

Long-term resident departures (LTRD)

Australian residents who stay abroad for 12 months or more.

Long-term resident returns (LTRR)

Australian residents returning after a recorded absence of 12 months or more overseas.

Long-term visitor arrivals (LTVA)

Overseas visitors who state that they intend to stay in Australia for 12 months or more (but not permanently).

Long-term visitor departures (LTVD)

Overseas visitors departing after a recorded stay of 12 months or more in Australia.

Main reason for journey

Overseas visitors/temporary entrants arriving in Australia and Australian residents returning to Australia are asked to state their main reason for journey using the following categories:

• convention/conference;
• business;
• visiting friends/relatives;
• holiday;
• employment;
• education; and
• other.

Median age

For any distribution, the median value is that which divides the relevant population into two equal parts, half falling below the value, and half exceeding it. Thus, the median age is the age at which half the population is older and half is younger.

Overseas arrivals and departures

Overseas arrivals and departures (OAD) refer to the recorded arrival or departure of persons through Australian air or sea ports (excluding operational air and ships' crew). Statistics on OAD relate to the number of movements of travellers rather than the number of travellers (i.e. the multiple movements of individual persons during a given reference period are all counted).

Passenger card

Passenger cards are completed by nearly all passengers arriving in Australia. Information including: country of previous residence, intended length of stay, main reason for journey, and state or territory of intended stay/residence is collected. An example of the current Australian passenger card is provided with the monthly Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia (cat. no. 3401.0) publication under the Explanatory Notes tab.

Permanent arrivals

Permanent arrivals (settlers) comprise:

• travellers who hold permanent visas (regardless of stated intended duration of stay);
• New Zealand citizens who indicate on their passenger card an intention to migrate permanently; and
• those who are otherwise identified as eligible to settle.

Permanent visa

A visa allowing the holder to remain indefinitely in Australia's migration zone.

Resident

See Australian resident.

Sex ratio

The sex ratio relates to the number of males per 100 females. The sex ratio is defined for the total population, at birth, at death and among age groups..

Short-term arrivals

Short-term arrivals comprise of short-term visitor arrivals (STVA) and short-term resident returns (STRR).

Short-term departures

Short-term departures comprise of short-term resident departures (STRD) and short-term visitor departures (STVD).

Short-term resident departures (STRD)

Australian residents who stay abroad for less than 12 months.

Short-term resident returns (STRR)

Australian residents returning after a recorded stay of less than 12 months overseas.

Short-term visitor arrivals (STVA)

Overseas visitors who intend to stay in Australia for less than 12 months.

Short-term visitor departures (STVD)

Overseas visitors departing after a recorded stay of less than 12 months in Australia.

Skill stream

Those categories of the Migration Program where the core eligibility criteria are based on the applicant's employability or capacity to invest and/or do business in Australia. The immediate accompanying families of principal applicants in the skill stream are also counted as part of the skill stream.

This definition of skill stream is used by Home Affairs who administer the Migration Program.

State or territory of residence/stay

State or territory in which overseas visitors lived/stayed or the state or territory in which residents live/lived.

On arrival, overseas visitors are asked on their passenger card for their state or territory of intended address in Australia. Residents returning to Australia are asked on their passenger card for their state or territory of intended address.

Temporary entrants

See temporary visas.

Temporary visas

Temporary entrant visas are visas permitting persons to come to Australia on a temporary basis for specific purposes. Main contributors are tourists, international students, those on temporary work visas, business visitors and working holiday makers.

Visa

Permission or authority granted by the Australian government to foreign nationals to travel to, enter and/or remain in Australia for a period of time or indefinitely.

Visitor

A visitor is any traveller arriving to or departing from Australia who is not a resident. A visitor can be either short-term (less than 12 months) or long-term (12 months or more).