Australians not racist: migrant survey

Australia's Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock is heartened by the migrant survey findings

CANBERRA, Australia (CNN) -- Recent migrants to Australia are highly satisified with life in their new country and have few complaints, according to a study commissioned by Australia's Department of Immigration.

The study, conducted by Flinders University in South Australia, finds the vast majority of migrants -- more than 90 percent -- are happy about their decision to come to Australia and intend to stay permanently in their new country.

About one third of the 11,500 migrants survey could find no fault at all with Australia, while the biggest single category of complaint -- 12.5 percent -- was the climate.

Just 3 percent of the migrants complained about Australians being racist.

Australia's Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said Tuesday the survey showed racism was not the major issue that many thought it was.

"For only 3 per cent of people to complain that they have been affected by racism when something of the order of 48 per cent -- almost 50 per cent -- come from Asian, North African or Middle Eastern backgrounds, I think it evidences a society that is very accommodating," Ruddock told Australian Associated Press.

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"It doesn't mean there aren't problems. It doesn't mean there aren't difficulties for some, but it is not a large a problem as is often portrayed," he said.

However, the survey finds a sharp difference in experience between general migrants and refugees who have been accepted into Australia on humanitarian grounds.

"Humanitarian migrants clearly come with many disadvantages," the report says.

"They find it hard to obtain employment and as a result have low levels of income and relatively poor housing."

But despite "these outward signs of hardship," the report says, these migrants are "overwhelmingly happy to be in Australia and are most likely to day they intend to take out Australian citizenship."

Healthier than most

The study, called The Settlement Experiences of New Migrants, also finds that the majority of migrants come to Australia because of its inviting attributes rather than economic factors or misery in their home country.

The factors most often mentioned as positives were Australia's lifestyle, peaceful environs, friendly people and natural beauty of the countryside.

Three quarters of the migrants survey said they would encourage others to move to Australia.

The study also finds migrants are on average 10 per cent healthier than the general Australian population because of stringent medical requirements for immigration.

The study compared two waves of migrants, one from 1993-94 and the other from 1999-2000.

New Zealand migrants to Australia were excluded from the survey.