Refuge and Family Futures in Australia: Settlement Outcomes of Recently Arrived Refugees from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan: Final Report

Jock Collins, Carol Reid, Dimitria Groutsis, Stuart Hughes, Katherine Watson, Annika Kaabel

Research output: Book/Research ReportResearch report

Abstract

Australia's strong response to the humanitarian conflict in Syria/Iraq saw a one-off intake through 2016-17 of 12,000 refugees from the region. A four-year (2018-2021), three-stage longitudinal study of recently arrived refugee families from Syria and Iraq in metropolitan and regional areas of New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria "with a control group of refugee families from Afghanistan" found that overall, settlement outcomes have been highly positive for the refugee families and Australia. Funded by the Australian Research Council, in Round 1 (2018-19) the research project interviewed 246 refugee families "129 Syrian, 84 Iraqi and 33 Afghan“ and surveyed 500 adults and 199 young people. By Round 3 (2020-21) 169 refugee families were interviewed, and 326 refugee adults and 102 youth surveyed about life before and after resettlement in Australia. The survey was derived from the BNLA (Building a New Life in Australia) conducted by the Australian government since 2013 to provide a benchmark of refugee settlement outcomes. The key characteristics of the Syrian conflict intake are that most were Christians, and most were middle class. Specifically, the majority of the Syrian and Iraqi refugee families (73%) were Christian, all Afghan families "20% of those surveyed“ were Muslim, while 7% were Ezidi. In terms of education, 47% of Iraqi refugee adults and 42% of Syrians had prior tertiary education qualifications (cf 35% of BNLA and 39% of the Australian population). Only 9% of Afghans had a university education, while nearly half (47%) had no schooling at all.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationDarlington, N.S.W.
PublisherUniversity of Sydney Business School
Number of pages142
ISBN (Print)9781742105611
Publication statusPublished - 2023

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