Settlement experiences of recently arrived humanitarian migrants: Building a New Life in Australia-Wave 1

Humanitarian migrants are fleeing trauma and persecution. Many have spent periods of time in refugee camps or detention centres pending resolution of their status. The journey that people make from refugee to citizen is one where they will encounter many hurdles, but also support from people who took the journey before them, from the community, and from different levels of government. Worldwide, there are more than 15 million people who have fled their country for safety, including 3.9 million from Syria, 2.6 million from Afghanistan and 1.1 million from Somalia (World Bank, 2015). Migrant communities have made considerable contributions to Australia's economic and social wellbeing (Hugo, 2011). Understanding how humanitarian migrants settle in Australia is paramount to ensuring effective policy and program responses; however, detailed research in this area has been lacking. This fact sheet describes the pre-arrival and early settlement experiences for a cohort of humanitarian migrants who arrived in Australia or were granted their permanent Australian visas during May and December 2013.