This chart shows the composition of each income group by country of birth.
People born in non-English speaking countries (other) are more likely to live in the lowest income group. One reason for this is that they come from less-wealthy countries, and another reason is that they are less likely to be approved to settle in Australia on the basis of workforce skills. Of those who entered Australia with permanent visas from 2006 to 2016, 62% of those coming from North-west Europe had skilled visas, compared with 49% of those from South-east Asia and 14% of those from North Africa and the Middle East. For more information, see Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016): Characteristics of Recent Migrants, Australia, November 2016. (‘Recent’ refers to those settling in Australia between 2006 and 2016). Conversely, people born in Australia or other mainly English-speaking countries are more likely to live in the highest 20% income group.
    2019-20
Of adults born in a major English-speaking country, 27% were in the highest 20%. Of those born in other countries, 26% were in the lowest 20%.
    2017-18
Of adults born in a mainly English-speaking country, 28% were in the highest income group. Of those born in other countries, 24% were in the lowest income group.
    2015-16
While the majority (65%) of individuals in the lowest income group were Australian-born (reflecting their high proportion – 69% – of the overall population), 25% were born in a non English-speaking country. In contrast, 72% of those in the highest income group were Australian born and only 15% were from non-English speaking countries.