Changing Disability Status of Immigrants in Australia - Three Cases

Abstract

This paper examines the changing disability status over five years of those born overseas who have lived in Australia for various periods of time. Sourcing data from the 2006 and 2011 censuses it explores in-depth three distinctive immigrant groups: recent immigrants arriving between 2002 and 2006; Chinese students coming to Australia in the late 1980s; and Vietnamese refugees settling in Australia in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The analysis shows that age is the most important factor influencing the trajectories of disability profiles of immigrants, just like their local counterparties.