Population
At the end of June 2023, 34,590 Syrian-born people were living in Australia. This was more than 3 times the number (10,550) at 30 June 2013. This makes the Syrian-born population the 47th largest migrant community in Australia, equivalent to:
- 0.4% of Australia's overseas-born population
- 0.1% of Australia's total population.
For Australia's Syrian-born migrants:
- The median age of 40.4 years was 2.1 years above that of the general population.
- Females outnumbered males—50.4% compared with 49.6%.
(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s Population by Country of Birth)
Permanent migration
Australia's permanent Migration Program incorporates economic and family migration and is the main pathway to permanent residence. It includes the Skill stream, Family stream, and Special Eligibility visas. The only other way to obtain permanent residence is on humanitarian grounds.
Skill stream visas
The Skill stream is designed for workers who have the skills, qualifications and entrepreneurship most needed in the Australian economy. There are seven components:
- Business Innovation and Investment
- Distinguished Talent
- Employer Sponsored
- Global Talent (Independent)
- Regional
- Skilled Independent
- State/Territory Nominated.
Family and Child stream visas
The Family stream allows the permanent migration of close family members, of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens. It focuses on partners and parents, but also provides the opportunity for additional family members, such as aged dependent relatives, carers, remaining relatives and orphan relatives, to join their family in Australia.
Child visas allow the permanent migration of children, of Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens. The Child visa comprises two categories, namely Child and Adoption visas.
Special Eligibility visas
Special Eligibility visas allow former residents and certain people who served in the Australian Defence Force to live in Australia as permanent residents.
This table shows the size of permanent migration (including humanitarian) from Syria by migration category.
Table 1: Permanent migrant places granted, 2020–21 to 2023–24
Migration category | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 |
|---|
Business Innovation and Investment 1 | 0 | 0 | >-5 | 0 |
Employer Sponsored | 23 | 37 | 21 | 20 |
Skilled Independent | <5 | 0 | 10 | 29 |
State/Territory Nominated | <5 | <5 | 6 | 16 |
Regional 2 | 5 | 0 | <5 | 34 |
Global Talent (Independent) 3 | 9 | <5 | 10 | 0 |
Partner | 132 | 135 | 131 | 154 |
All other categories 4 | 15 | 17 | 12 | 7 |
Total places granted |
184 |
189 |
190 |
260 |
Humanitarian Program 5 |
|---|
Offshore resettlement component 6 | 450 | 1,268 | 1,192 | 2,804 |
Onshore protection component 7 | 18 | 37 | <5 | 30
|
Source: Department of Home Affairs
1If a Business Innovation and Investment visa (granted in an earlier year) is cancelled the place is returned to the program in the year of cancellation.
2The Regional migration category commenced 1 July 2019.
3Global Talent (Independent) category commenced 4 November 2019.
4 Data has been perturbed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Note: To protect the privacy of individuals, various data confidentiality techniques have been applied. These techniques include:
-
data masking — using primary and secondary suppression methods for values that are deemed to be a disclosure risk
-
perturbation — a data security technique that allows for random data adjustment to prevent the release of identifiable data.
5Permanent visas record a person's nationality with one exception, the offshore resettlement component of the Humanitarian Program. This component, before 2019–20, recorded a person's country of birth.
6Data was extracted from Departmental systems on 3 July 2024. As information has been drawn from dynamic system environments the information provided may differ from previous or future reporting.
7Data was extracted from Departmental systems on 1 July 2024. As information has been drawn from dynamic system environments the information provided may differ from previous or future reporting.
Temporary migration
People can come to Australia for a temporary stay for a range of purposes, for example, visiting Australia for tourism or attending a conference, or for more specific purposes, such as medical treatment, study, skilled work, working holidays or other specialist activities. There are six main categories of temporary residents, which can cover stays of more than three months in Australia.
Note: Not all categories apply to migrants from each country.
Visitor visas
Visitor visas are mostly used by people visiting Australia for holidays, tourism and recreation, or to see family and friends. People may also use Visitor visas for certain short-term business activities that do not entail working in Australia.
Working Holiday Maker Program
The Working Holiday Maker Program allows young adults to have an extended holiday and engage in short-term work and study.
Student visa
The Student visa program enables international students to come to Australia to study full-time in a registered course.
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa
Allows a business to sponsor a skilled overseas worker if they cannot find an appropriately skilled Australian citizen or permanent resident to fill a skilled position.
Other temporary visas
Other temporary visas include visas that allow people to undertake short-term, non-ongoing highly specialised work, enrich social and cultural development, strengthen international relations or provide training opportunities of benefit to Australia.
New Zealand citizens
Under the 1973 Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, New Zealand citizens can enter and leave Australia freely and live in Australia indefinitely on grant of a Special Category visa (subclass 444).
This table shows the number of visa grants to migrants of Syria for Visitor, Student and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visas.
Table 2: Temporary visas granted by selected categories, 2020–21 to 2023–24
Temporary visa category | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 |
|---|
Visitor | 14 | 65 | 491 | 352 |
Student | 8 | 10 | 33 | 24 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) | 15 | 20 | 27 | 46 |
Other temporary visa grants 1 | 6 | 19 | 90 | 79 |
Total temporary visa grants |
43 |
114 |
641 |
501 |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
1Excludes Transit visa (subclass 771), Border visa (subclass 773) and Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988).
Main occupations
This table shows the main occupations for nationals of Syria, based on Skill stream migration outcomes and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa grants.
Table 3: Main occupations, 2020–21 to 2023–24
Period | Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visas | No. of migrants | Skill stream migration | No. of migrants |
|---|
2023–24
| Chefs | <5 | Construction managers | <5 |
|---|
Software and applications programmers | <5 | Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers | <5 |
Construction managers | <5 | Civil engineering professionals | <5 |
Database and systems administrators, and ICT security specialists | <5 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | <5 |
Hairdressers | <5 | Pharmacists | <5 |
Advertising, public relations and sales managers | <5 | Management and organisation analysts | <5 |
Cafe and restaurant managers | <5 | Graphic and web designers, and illustrators | <5 |
Civil engineering professionals | <5 | Electrical engineers | <5 |
Other engineering professionals | <5 | University lecturers and tutors | <5 |
Computer network professionals | <5 | Multimedia specialists and web developers | <5 |
2022–23 | Bakers and pastrycooks | <5 | Database and systems administrators, and ICT security specialists | 5 |
|---|
Cafe and restaurant managers | <5 | Engineering managers | <5 |
Hotel and motel managers | <5 | Mining engineers | <5 |
Economists | <5 | Psychiatrists | <5 |
Electrical engineers | <5 | Hotel and motel managers | <5 |
General practitioners and resident medical officers | <5 | Urban and regional planners | <5 |
Specialist physicians | <5 | Electrical engineers | <5 |
ICT business and systems analysts | <5 | Agricultural and forestry scientists | <5 |
Multimedia specialists and web developers | <5 | Special education teachers | <5 |
Software and applications programmers | <5 | Other health diagnostic and promotion professionals | <5 |
2021–22 | Specialist physicians | <5 | Software and applications programmers | 5 |
|---|
Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers | <5 | Chefs | <5 |
Software and applications programmers | <5 | Cafe and restaurant managers | <5 |
ICT support technicians | <5 | Accountants | <5 |
Chefs | <5 | Other engineering professionals | <5 |
| | Life scientists | <5 |
| | General practitioners and resident medical officers | <5 |
| | Other medical practitioners | <5 |
| | Ministers of religion | <5 |
| | Dental hygienists, technicians and therapists | <5 |
| 2020–21
| Other engineering professionals | <5 | Civil engineering professionals | <5 |
|---|
General practitioners and resident medical officers | <5 | Accountants | <5 |
Specialist physicians | <5 | Technical sales representatives | <5 |
Other medical practitioners | <5 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | <5 |
| | Other engineering professionals | <5 |
| | Dental practitioners | <5 |
| | Other medical practitioners | <5 |
| | Software and applications programmers | <5 |
| | Telecommunications engineering professionals | <5 |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
Note: To protect the privacy of individuals, various data confidentiality techniques have been applied. These techniques include:
-
data masking — using primary and secondary suppression methods for values that are deemed to be a disclosure risk
-
perturbation — a data security technique that allows for random data adjustment to prevent the release of identifiable data.
Note: Occupation level information is available for primary applicants only. It is based on Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations at the unit level.
Geographic distribution
This table shows the geographic distribution of migrants by state and territory, based on permanent additions for the Skill and Family streams, and the offshore resettlement component of the Humanitarian Program, international student visa grants, and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa grants.
Table 4: Geographic distribution by state and territory
Population | NSW | Vic | Qld | SA | WA | Tas | NT | ACT |
|---|
Census 2021 (%) |
|---|
Of all persons | 32 | 26 | 20 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Of Syrian-born | 58 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Permanent additions - 2023–24 (%) |
|---|
Humanitarian Program 1 | 51 | 28 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Skill stream | 26 | 21 | 10 | 26 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Family and Child stream | 57 | 30 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Temporary visa grants- 2023–24 (%) |
|---|
International student visa grants | 53 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa (primary) grants | 24 | 38 | 14 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs
1Data pertains to offshore Humanitarian Settler Arrivals.
Note: Permanent additions consist of 2 components:
-
people who, while already in Australia on a temporary basis, are granted permanent residence status
-
people who have subsequently arrived from overseas during the reporting period and are entitled to stay permanently in Australia.
Country ranking
This table uses rankings to show the significance of Syrian migration for the past four financial years.
Table 5: Country ranking, 2020–21 to 2023–24
Ranked position of migrants | 2020–21 | 2021–22 | 2022–23 | 2023–24 |
|---|
Population in Australia 1 | 49 | 48 | 47 | 47 |
Regional | 65 | n/a
| 90 | 45 |
Employer Sponsored | 68 | 56 | 71 | 70 |
Total Skill stream | 74 | 71 | 75 | 56 |
Total Family and Child stream | 58 | 52 | 47 | 41 |
International students | 129 | 129 | 118 | 117 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa | 79 | 77 | 86 | 78 |
Visitors | 112 | 117 | 106 | 111 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs
1Population level data is by country of birth and lags one year behind the financial year specified. Data based on the estimated residential population at 30 June 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
