Study highlights Australia’s migrant pay gap

A report released on Wednesday shows immigrants are paid less than Australian-born workers.

The Australian Council for Economic Development, an independent policy advocacy group, found migrants were often held in jobs below their skill level and could experience discrimination.

Inquiry into immigration highlights Australia’s missed opportunities.

The policy group claimed that if immigrants were paid on par with Australian-born workers, it would free up about $2.64 billion in wages each year.

The study found that immigrants who had lived in Australia for two to six years earned about 10 per cent less than native-born immigrants.

The biggest losers were female immigrants with postgraduate degrees, who earned on average 31 per cent less than Australian-born women with similar qualifications, the report found.

The survey’s authors urge the Canberra government to better recognize migrants’ international qualifications to help address severe skills shortages and combat workplace discrimination.

The committee also said there should be a renewed emphasis on providing better English language tuition for new settlers.

Australian Economic Development Council chief executive Melinda Cilento told the ABC on Wednesday urgent action was needed.

“We find that people from non-English speaking backgrounds are the ones who are really struggling, which is one of the reasons why when we identify the (pay) gap we look at English language proficiency,” she said. “That’s one of the reasons why we think one of the things you need to do is really improve people’s English language training when they arrive in Australia.”

So far, the Labor government in Canberra has not responded.

But last December, the government released its immigration strategy. It plans to halve immigration levels within two years because it believes current levels are unsustainable. Reduce the number of international students and increase efforts to attract overseas skilled workers.

More than 500,000 migrants arrived in Australia in 2022, up from a surge of 170,000 the previous year after pandemic border closures were lifted.

Ministers also plan to crack down on international students who attend fake Australian universities and take advantage of the system to work instead of study.

Most immigrants to Australia come from India and China.

Australia has strict refugee policies as it seeks to limit worker and student immigration. For more than a decade, the navy has been ordered to turn away ships carrying asylum seekers trying to reach Australia. Those who evade authorities are automatically detained until their claims are processed.

Australia issues visas to approximately 20,000 refugees each year.