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This publication outlines the demographics and cultural backgrounds of culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) young people in Western Australia (WA), their settlement patterns, English proficiency and languages spoken at home, socioeconomic conditions, religious affiliation, marital status and living arrangements, and civic participation. Consistent with the Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network Australia’s (MYANA’s) CaLD Youth Census Report 2014 and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), CaLD youth are defined as people aged between 12 and 24 years who were born in the non-main English speaking (NMES) countries.[1] Data used in this publication is drawn from the ABS 2011 Population and Housing Census.

1. [1] Following the ABS, except 10 countries—Australia, Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, the United States of America and Wales—all the other countries are classified as NMES countries.

Age and gender distribution

In 2011, there were 44,729 young people aged between 12 and 24 years from CaLD backgrounds in WA. CaLD youth comprised one-tenth (11.3 per cent) of the Western Australian population of the same age and 14 per cent of the overall CaLD population in WA. They were the fourth largest group in Australia after New South Wales (141,573), Victoria (128,260) and Queensland (58,206).

One-third (14,479 or 32.3 per cent) of CaLD youth were adolescents (aged 12–17 years) and two-thirds (30,313 or 67.7 per cent) were young adults (aged 18–24 years). Overall, the CaLD youth population increased by 36.1 per cent between 2006 and 2011 and at a faster rate (4.4 per cent annually) compared with the total youth population of WA (1.9 per cent/year) and Australia-born cohort (0.9 per cent/year).[2]

There were more males (22,929) than females (21,863) with a sex-ratio of 104.8 males for every 100 females aged between 12 and 24 years. This has increased slightly since 2006 when the sex-ratio was estimated at 102.7.

Arrival and settlement patterns

Almost two-thirds (61.3 per cent) of CaLD young people migrated to Australia between 2005 and 2011. Most (41,803 or 93.3 per cent) lived in the Perth metropolitan area mainly in the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Canning (15.4 per cent), Stirling (13.4 per cent), Gosnells (8.5 per cent), Wanneroo (7.8 per cent), Melville (7.4 per cent), Joondalup (4.9 per cent), Swan (4.7 per cent), Victoria Park (4.5 per cent), Cockburn (4.5 per cent) and South Perth (4.4 per cent).

Only seven per cent (or 2989) of CaLD young people lived in regional areas. Regional LGAs with more than 100 CaLD young people were Kalgoorlie-Boulder (359), Derby/West Kimberley (242), Albany (208), Bunbury (187), Geraldton-Greenough (167), Roebourne (159), Broome (115), Capel (113), Busselton (111) and Harvey (107).

1. [2] Multicultural Youth Advocacy Network (Australia) 2014, The CaLD Youth Census Report 2014, Centre for Multicultural Youth.

Education

Almost three-quarters (73.7 per cent) of CaLD youth were enrolled mostly as full-time students mainly in universities or tertiary institutions (30.9 per cent), and secondary schools (25.6 per cent), followed by technical or further educational institutions (TAFE) (8.5 per cent) in 2011. Those who were enrolled were mostly adolescents (95.2 per cent), followed by young adults (63.4 per cent).

Most (89.1 per cent) of CaLD young adults had completed Year 12 or Year 11 or an equivalent level of schooling. A small proportion of adolescents (0.1 per cent) and young adults (0.8 per cent) did not attend school (Table 7).

One-quarter (26 per cent) of CaLD youth had either a technical (13.8 per cent) or tertiary (12.2 per cent) qualification. The proportion of females (14.4 per cent) with tertiary qualifications was slightly larger, compared with males (10 per cent), although similar proportions of males (14.6 per cent) and females (13 per cent) had technical qualifications.

Among young adults, almost two-fifths (37.8 per cent) had either tertiary (18 per cent) or technical (19.8 per cent) qualifications. A larger proportion of females (21.3 per cent) had a tertiary level education than males (14.8 per cent).

Employment and occupations

The same proportion of CaLD youth were employed (38.4 per cent) and not in the labour force (38.4 per cent). Less than one-tenth (6.8 per cent) were unemployed in 2011 (Table 8). The proportion having part-time employment (24.9 per cent) was twice that of those with full-time employment (13.5 per cent).

The proportions of CaLD youth who were not in the labour force and were unemployed were higher compared with the total Western Australian young population (22.7 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively) and the Australia-born youth (22.1 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively). The rate of employment was higher for the Australia-born (45 per cent) and Western Australian young people (41.9 per cent).

CaLD young adults were mainly employed as clerical and administrative or sales workers (26.8 per cent), machine operators and drivers or labourers (22.4 per cent), community and personal services workers (20.2 per cent) and as professionals (17.3 per cent). However, there are gender-based variations (Table 9a).

Young women were employed mainly as clerical and administrative or sales workers (35.3 per cent), community and personal services workers (26.7 per cent) and as professionals (19.5 per cent). One-third (32 per cent) of young men were employed as machine operators and drivers or labourers, and the remainder were mainly involved as clerical and administrative or sales workers (18.9 per cent), technical and trade workers (16.8), professionals (15.2 per cent) and community and personal services workers (14.1 per cent).

In comparison, the proportions of Western Australian young adults employed as clerical and administrative or sales workers (20.2 per cent), community and personal services (9.9 per cent), machine operators, drivers and labourers (12.5 per cent) and managers and professionals (9.9 per cent) were smaller for all categories except for technical and trade workers (14.6 per cent).

More than half (56.4 per cent) of CaLD young adults were either low-income earners (26.8 per cent) earning less than $300 per week, or had no income (29.6 per cent) at all (Table 9b). Another one-third (32.2 per cent) had a weekly income between $300 and $999, while a small proportion (7.1 per cent) earned $1000 or more. Personal weekly income was similar for young men and women. (Table 9b)

Compared with 2006, the proportion having a weekly income of $1000 or more had doubled (from 3.2 per cent), while those in other income brackets were similar.

The proportion of Western Australian young adults who had no (10.9 per cent) or low (22.5 per cent) incomes were smaller (33.3 per cent), while those with weekly incomes between $300 and $999 (49.7 per cent) and over $1000 (17 per cent) were larger, compared with CaLD cohorts.

Family

Marital status

The marriageable age is 18 years for both men and women in Australia. As a result, very few adolescent girls (15) and boys (8) from CaLD backgrounds were married.

A majority (27,100 or 89.4 per cent) of young adults was never married while one-tenth (or 3018) was married and less than one (0.6) per cent (or 195) was widowed, divorced or separated. The rate of marriage was three times higher for females (2203 or 14.9 per cent), compared with males (815 or 5.3 per cent) (Figure 2).[3] The trend is similar to 2006 with 11.1 per cent (or 1248) and 4.4 per cent (or 486) of married females and males, respectively.

The rate of marriage is higher for CaLD young adults, particularly female, compared with the total Western Australian or Australia-born population of the same age (4.8 per cent and 3.8 per cent, respectively) and female cohorts (6.7 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively).

Of the young married women, less than one-fifth (350 or 15.8 per cent) had children. Of those who had children, the majority (282 or 80.6 per cent) had one child, while the remainder had two (52 or 14.8 per cent) or more (16 or 4.6 per cent) children. A total of 207 women were single parents, compared with 24 men of the same age.

Living arrangements

Living arrangements of CaLD youth highlights two distinct trends for adolescents and young adults. Adolescents were living mainly as dependent children (46.8 per cent) or dependent students (41.5 per cent). In comparison, a smaller proportion of young adults were living as dependent students (18.9 per cent) and none lived as dependent children. (table 10) The majority (67.2 per cent) lived independently in shared accommodation (27.5 per cent), with other family members (12.3 per cent) or non-dependent members (14.1 per cent) and de facto or de jure partners (13.3 per cent). Less than five per cent (4.5 per cent) was living alone (0.8 per cent) or as lone parents (3.7 per cent).

Need for assistance

Less than one per cent (0.5 or 211) of CaLD youth required assistance in performing core activities such as walking around the house, bathing and toileting. The number and proportion of those who needed assistance were slightly larger for males (131 or 0.6 per cent) than females (80 or 0.4 per cent). The rates for assistance were similar for adolescents (94 or 0.6 per cent) and young adults (117 or 0.4 per cent).

The proportion of Western Australian young people requiring assistance was comparable (1.4 per cent).

Citizenship and civic participation

Nearly two-fifths (37.1 per cent) of CaLD youth were Australian citizens—45.9 per cent of adolescents and 33 per cent of young adults, smaller in proportion (52.5 per cent and 42.1 per cent, respectively) compared with 2006 for these. The proportion of Australian citizens was much higher (80.5 per cent) for the total Western Australian youth population.

In 2011, 14.2 per cent of CaLD young adults were involved in volunteering activities, with females (16.3 per cent) having a higher rate than males (12.2 per cent) (Figure 3). The rate of volunteering (14 per cent) and gender trend (16.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent for males and females, respectively) were similar for Western Australian young people in general.

1. [3] Ever married males and females are persons who have been married at least once in their lives although may not be married currently. The ever married category in the figure represents number of young adults who are married and those who are either widowed or divorced or separated.

In 2011, there were 44,720 CaLD young people in WA. One-third were adolescents and two-thirds were young adults. Between 2006 and 2011, the number of CaLD young people grew at a faster rate (4.4 per cent annually), compared with the total population (1.9 per cent per year) and the Australia-born cohort (0.9 per cent per year).

CaLD youth were drawn from over 170 countries, mostly from Asia. Malaysia, China, India, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Hong Kong and Vietnam were the top 10 birthplaces. The top 10 ancestry responses were Chinese, Indian, English, Filipino, Australian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Malay, Afghan and Korean ancestries. Compared with the overall CaLD population, the proportion of CaLD young people affiliated with Christianity was lower, while those identified with Islam or not identified with any religion were higher.

Most (93.3 per cent) lived in the Perth metropolitan area, mainly in the LGAs of Canning (15.4 per cent), Stirling (13.4 per cent), Gosnells (8.5 per cent), Wanneroo (7.8 per cent), Melville (7.4 per cent), Joondalup (4.9 per cent), Swan (4.7 per cent), Victoria Park (4.5 per cent), Cockburn (4.5 per cent) and South Perth (4.4 per cent).

Seventy-one per cent of CaLD youth spoke English very well or well and only six per cent did not speak English well or at all. The top 10 LOTE spoken by CaLD youth at home were Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, Indonesian, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Punjabi, French, Filipino and Gujarati.

Almost three-quarters (73.7 per cent) of CaLD youth were currently enrolled as full-time students mainly in universities, secondary schools and TAFE, and one-quarter (26 per cent) had technical (13.8 per cent) or tertiary qualifications (12.2 per cent). The proportion who had part-time jobs (24.9 per cent) was almost double than those with full-time job (13.5 per cent).

The rate of unemployment was higher for CaLD young adults (8.9 per cent), compared with the State’s average (5 per cent) for the same age group. Fifty-six per cent of young adults were either earning less than $300 per week, or had no income at all, compared with one-third (33.4 per cent) of their Western Australian cohorts.

One-tenth of CaLD young adults were married. The rate of marriage was three times higher for females (14.9 per cent), compared with males (5.3 per cent), and double compared with the Western Australian female cohort (6.7 per cent). Two-thirds of young adults lived independently in shared accommodation, with other family members and as de facto or de jure partners.

CaLD youth were mainly recent migrants to WA and almost two-fifths were Australian citizens. The rate of volunteering was higher among CaLD young adult females (16.3 per cent), compared with males of the same age (12.2 per cent) but almost the same as the Western Australian female cohort (16.7 per cent).