New analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census data shows that unemployed Australians who moved regions were more likely to be employed (64 per cent) compared with those who stayed in the same region (57 per cent).
The ABS has released a series of interactive maps which track employment status and allow users to identify how many people in a particular region were employed in 2011 compared with five years later; how many moved to other regions in Australia and their employment status at this time.
ABS Data Integration Partnerships Program Manager, Celia Moss, said the maps offered new insights by allowing users to choose a particular region and explore in depth the employment status of people who moved out of that region and those who stayed.
"We have looked at longitudinal Census data over five years to look at the employment status of people who move region compared to those who do not," Ms Moss said.
"It has also allowed us to burrow down deeper. Using New South Wales as an example, we know that in 2011 there were 61,000 unemployed people living outside the Greater Sydney area. By 2016, half the 53,000 who stayed in the region were employed, while in contrast two thirds of the 3,000 people who moved to Greater Sydney were employed."
The mobility of the employed population can also be explored.
"Taking a look at the employed people living in the Greater Melbourne area in 2011, we know 94 per cent were living in this same region in 2016 and 88 per cent of them were employed in 2016."
"Of those 42,000 people who had moved from Greater Melbourne to regional Victoria by 2016, around 80 per cent were employed."
Data tables with additional characteristics for people who were unemployed in 2011 were also released today.
Ms Moss said, "Overall, almost 60 per cent of those unemployed in 2011 were employed in 2016. These workers were more likely to be full-time than part-time, particularly if they moved regions. Nearly 60 per cent of employed people in 2016 who had moved regions were full-time and 35 per cent were part-time."
