New Arrivals and Asylum Seekers
Over 44% of respondents were born overseas. This is largely
consistent with the make up of the City of Whittlesea where
over 40% of residents speak a language other than English
at home.
However, recency of arrival seems to play an important role
in financial vulnerability. Of the 44% of overall respondents
who were born outside Australia 58.5% had arrived in the 2
years between 2012 and 2014. This represents a significant
proportion of all respondents and is an indication of the
challenges many face in successfully re-settling in a new
country. Of the 111 survey respondents born overseas, just
over a third were born in Iran (34.5%), Sir Lanka (15.4%) and
Iraq (14.5%). This is reflective of current migration trends in
the broader community. In recent years, WCC has seen a
sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers accessing
ER services. Anecdotally, staff have highlighted the impact
of government policy on asylum seekers’ access to
adequate income, work and education opportunities.
Limited eligibility for a range of services and the cost of daily
living expenses on minimal or no income has edged many
asylum seekers into serious financial hardship. There are
approximately 1,000 asylum seekers currently living in the
City of Whittlesea. According to data released by the
Department of Immigration and Border Protection, the
highest concentration of asylum seeker communities reside
in Lalor, Thomastown and Epping. Consistent with country
of arrival, most respondents who indicated they spoke a
language other than English at home identified
Persian(12.2%), Arabic (11%) and Tamil (6.7%) as their
preferred language.
Living Arrangements, Income, Cost of
Living, Housing
A research report released by ACOSS in 2014 showed that 2.5
million people in Australia are living below the poverty line.
This figure includes 603,000 children11. Many people living
below the poverty line are forced to make trade-offs between
basic needs, often resulting in people going without food,
medication or transport. The ACOSS poverty report highlighted
that the people most likely to be living in poverty are those who
are unemployed, or in a household that relies on social security
as its main source of income.
Born
Overseas
44.4%
COB for those born overseas
14.5%
Iraq
15.4%
Sri Lanka
Iran
34.5
%
“I would like to thank the organisations that
help us. We can’t work and study, hence it is
impossible to live with two children”
“As a single mum without any family in the
country these type of organizations
provides us support when we're in trouble”
11
ACOSS (2014), Poverty in Australia,
http://www.acoss.org.au/images/uploads/ACOSS_Poverty_in_Australia_201
4.pdf
13