Widely circulated claims of out-of-control mass immigration in Australia are false and misleading and stem from the incorrect reporting of tourism and travel data that has nothing to do with migration, according to a major new report from The Australian National University (ANU).
The report’s authors say that public commentators, activists and some media outlets are incorrectly using Permanent and Long-Term (PLT) movement data, which is collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), to claim Australia has a ‘migration problem’ and distort public understanding.
This is despite repeated, clear comments from the ABS that PLT does not measure migration but instead records people coming in and out of Australia, and includes tourists, temporary visa holders, returning residents and repeated short absences.
ANU Professor Alan Gamlen explains that net overseas migration (NOM) — the number of migrants arriving in Australia minus the number of migrants departing Australia — is in fact falling sharply and has been since June 2023.
He said the misuse of PLT data is generating sensational news headlines that are fuelling misinformation and peddling false narratives, while also undermining public policy on migration.
“PLT is tourism and travel behaviour data, while NOM is migration data. They measure entirely different things. The ABS has repeatedly warned that their PLT data should not be used to draw conclusions about overseas migration,” Professor Gamlen, who is the...
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