An extensive face-to-face study of people from 51 countries by settlement agency AMES found almost 60 per cent of respondents were happy in Australia all or most of the time. Only 4 per cent were unhappy.
A better lifestyle (34 per cent) was the most common reason cited by respondents for coming to Australia, while 26 per cent stated securing their children’s future as a core motivator. Almost 90 per cent said they had not experienced racism.
Despite fears about not getting a job (52 per cent) and violence or crime (19 per cent), 79 per cent said they intended to stay permanently. A further 75 per cent said life in
Australia was “as they thought it would be before they left their home countries”.
AMES found that 11 per cent of the 400 interviewees had reported experiences of racism, with 3 per cent having been told unkindly to “go home”.
The chief executive of the settlement agency AMES Cath Scarth commenting on the results of the study stated: “The survey suggests an optimistic outlook and a determination on the part of new arrivals to build a new life and embrace all that Australia has to offer.”
The finding of this report are in contrast with a Monash University study released in late March. The Monash University study based on a sample of 2.300 recent migrants to Australia found that 41 per cent of its respondents had experienced some kind of discrimination.
Source: The Australian