Main characteristics and settlement outcomes of Greece-born persons who emigrated to Australia during the Greek economic crisis

Abstract

During the Greek economic crisis several thousand Greece-born Australian citizens, Greek citizens, and Australia-born persons of Greek ancestry, emigrated from Greece to Australia. The limited relevant research has focused on their initial years of arrival in Australia at a local level, mostly in Melbourne, and in the number and patterns of emigration of Greek citizens at the national level. However, there is no research on the main characteristics and settlement outcomes of the post-2010 Greece-born persons who emigrated in Australia. This paper aims to fill in this knowledge gap by analysing and comparing the main characteristics and settlement outcomes of the above group of migrants with those of previous waves of Greece-born migrants, all migrants and Australian born persons. This is done by using the following eight indicators from the 2016 Australian Census of Population and Housing: demography, place of residence, educational, qualifications, occupational and labour market status, industry of employment and income. The data and its analysis provide a reliable and current understanding of the profile and settlement outcomes of the post-2010 Greece-born migrants in Australia, and also draws attention to the particularities of (re)emigration of Greeks from Greece to countries of traditional Greek migrant destination.

Keywords

Australia, migration, Greeks, Greek crisis