What percentage of international students gain employment within six months of obtaining permanent residency status.

My Department has used information from its third Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia (LSIA 3) to respond to this question. The LSIA 3 collected information from former international students on two occasions: in August 2005, six months after their permanent visa was granted, and then again in August 2006, 18 months after their transition to permanent residency.

In August 2005, six months after the grant of permanent residency, 85 per cent of former international students were working, their participation rate was 93 per cent and their unemployment rate was 8 per cent. The national unemployment rate at this time was 4.9 per cent.

Twelve months later, in August 2006, 92 per cent of former international students were working, their participation rate was 95 per cent and their unemployment rate had fallen to 3 per cent. The national unemployment rate at this time was 4.7 per cent.

It is noted that former international students have more favourable labour market outcomes (with the exception of their initial unemployment rate) than the general Australian population. This may be due to their relatively younger median age and the two year waiting period which applies before they are entitled to social security benefits.

My Department has established an ongoing survey for monitoring migrant outcomes (including former international students), the Continuous Survey of Australia’s Migrants. The first wave of this survey is underway, with results expected in early 2010.