7 misperceptions that cost Australian immigrants & the ways you overcome them

You probably see and eventually get used to the conventional picture of new immigrants to Australia:

They are typically juggling two or three jobs to support their families financially, doing daytime work and using their spare time to do deliveries, especially ones living in Sydney and Melbourne where the costs of living are very high.

Australians believe that working hard is what every good immigrant needs. We would say that there is nothing inherently wrong with working hard, especially when you don’t have a roof over your head and need to put food on your table.

With hard work (manual labour or technical work), such as a construction worker or bricklayer, where you don’t need much of English language skills, you often receive a higher payment and good benefits in Australia. This is why you see 85% of new immigrants (especially males) ending up as blue-collar workers.

Are immigrants greatly benefiting from this work hard and hard work attitude? Absolutely, but this is not the whole picture.

Statistics indicate that most of the first-generation immigrants who believe in work hard and hard work have missed the best opportunity to develop themselves in skills and language, which restricts their living standards from being improved later on, and most of them end up with poorer health, mentally or physically. That’s why the traditional immigrant settlement suburb is rated as the poorer suburb compared to the average living standard in Australia.

Do Australians care about equality for immigrants as a civil society? Yes, they do. You often see that they are advocating and debating publicly that immigrants should not be exploited and discriminated against in Australia.

The Australian government takes real action to help out immigrants in terms of equality, such as “same work, same pay”. Many Australian organisations provide numerous services to immigrants: Legal Aid, Immigration Resource Centres, Immigration Advice Centres, New Start Allowance, Anti-discrimination Board…

However, please do not mistake the law and political correctness for the practical sense of all human livings: Human nature does not like someone who does not fight for their rights. If you are expecting a stranger to embrace any immigrant who cannot even speak their language, you could be wrong, despite most Australians being immigrants themselves or the descendants of immigrants.

A recent public opinion poll shows that Australia is not the country that welcomes any immigrant without conditions. The current Scott Morrison government promises to reduce the number of immigrant intake in order to win the federal election in 2019. Why?

Look at the poem for advocating immigration by Emma Lararus: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free …” Australia believes the best gift to an immigrant is freedom, not a guarantee of equality! This means you work out the way of equality by standing high and tall like everyone else first.

Australians are pretty laid back and accepting when it comes to work relationships where immigrants are not directly competing with them. As soon as your interests are conflicting with theirs, you become an outsider!  Integrating with locals can take place but with time. This is the cross we all must bear as a newcomer.

Most immigrants have to overcome the reality that they need to get into the workforce to support themselves. You can get stung by some harsh requirements which Australian locals might not encounter, such as some “soft skills” like getting along with others, professional integrity, self-awareness, etc. which you might not have a clue about it as an immigrant normally comes from the different cultural background.

When struggling to fit into a new culture, you must figure out how to deal with, or overcome the frustration, loneliness and steep learning curve. This is the exact same experience or journey of being entrepreneurs: facing many kinds of obstacles and working out the best strategy to handle it.

Overcoming the challenge of leaving your homeland and settling into a new country can foster an “immigrant mindset” which is tolerance for uncertainty and confidence with adaptability. The nature of migration often helps immigrants to see a wealth of new ideas or opportunities that do not exist in their homeland. Immigrants are more accepting of innovative ideas and dare to do things differently.

As an immigrant, instead of being a member of a certain nation or ethnic group, you choose to join a new country. You define your own identity instead of taking the one society hands down to you. Entrepreneurs seem to be in the same boat; they aren’t just staying in the same job, waiting to get promoted, they’re also defining their own identities.

It is correct to say that “Australia is a new and diversified country made up of immigrants. Australia is about giving everyone ‘a fair go,’ which reflects a culture of tolerance, lack of hierarchy and class system.” Most immigrants will agree with you because we all come from different parts of the world and the most successful people in this country are immigrants or descendants of immigrants.

It is fair to say that religion has never played a crucial part in holding Australia together, nor does it rigorously divide people into groups. Even during most furious debates about fundamentalist Islamic terrorist attacks, Australians can keep calm and carry on. No one cares about your religion as long as you do not try to impose it or become extremely crazy about it.

At least from the perspective of the law and political system, your freedom of religion is guaranteed, and racism is condemned.

However, sometimes you will encounter offended racism critics about immigrants, especially refugees. But does Australia practice what they preach?

Australians have their own unique values and social mores. These values or mores are imbedded in the heart of Australians through years of education, and include things like considering the needs of others, honesty, team play or mateship, respect for the environment around us… the list goes on. As an immigrant, if you don’t always understand the common frameworks of society or the rules of game, you might inadvertently act contrary to established Australian values. Next time when you are subjected to racial criticism, that’s because people often attack the behaviour from an ethnic group rather than the individual.

When it comes to making a good living in your new life, Australian immigrants often experience some degrees of financial distress, partly because of their unfamiliarity with the Australian financial or economic systems. If you don’t know the system, it might work against you, which is especially the case with the crazy Australian tax system.

Most likely, immigrants inherit habits from their original countries regarding handling their financial affairs and misjudge the consequences of the way money works in Australia. Such habits include saving money in cash assets, or avoiding any financial service from professionals…

We have seen so many immigrants put themselves in the worst financial situations, not because they don’t have any earnings or skills, but rather due to some serious misunderstanding of wealth and money under the Australia financial system, which causes the immigrant to basically leave the money on the table and let others take advantage of it. Commonly, small businesses miss out on the various grants from the government but struggle to raise wages to employees, or using cash transaction and lost the claim back from tax system.

Financial education can help immigrants better understand and harness the Australian financial system, so that they have a safe place to save their money, learn how to manage their finances and develop a good credit, access loan facilities, purchase homes and build wealth for themselves, their families and their communities.

Changing locations to live in a new country means changing the social dynamics and gender roles in a family.

There was a remarkable correlation between the size of the social network and the achievement of the immigrant in Australia. Over 44% of new immigrants claimed that their life quality is significantly improved when they feel that there is someone there they can rely on.

Unfortunately, social isolation is a reality experienced by many immigrants. Even though it is not easy to recognize, it has significant health, social, and economic consequences.

Your idea of family roles in an Australian society might be different from that of your original country, so this also causes families to struggle to re-balance the power at home.

According to a report by Monash University, out of 36,450 annually approved temporary partner visa applications in 2017, 9112 visa holder are assumed to be suffering from family violence.

Immigrants do not inherit an existing social network. It is not easy to establish a good circle of friends, and you will probably end up associating with people who are fellow immigrants. But don’t be limited by the physical social network, there are many online social networks which can equally help you to exchange ideas.

Migrant families also need to adapt to the Australian social dynamics to keep the family together because children adapt much faster to the new culture compared to their parents.

The impetus for immigrating to Australia is rooted in a desire for a better life. Whether that involves seeking freedom from persecution, obtaining an education, securing a successful career or simply forging a new beginning that provides greater opportunities, the common denominator among immigrants is typically the hope for a better future.

How long does it take for an immigrant to achieve this goal in Australia?

If we measure the success of immigrants by their incomes, employment, social capital and English skills, then the answer to this success is to foster it. It takes an immigrant who lives in Australia at least 6 years (according to the recent study by Global Talent Bridge) to achieve this success.

The success of immigrants is the test of endurance and grit. Immigrants often need to adopt a multipronged approach to re-establish themselves, from English language proficiency, updated skills, and social connection to acculturation. The learning and growing are parts of an immigrant’s life.

Fortunately, this type of learning is not so costly but requires determination. With a little effort every day, you can get what you want eventually.

Immigration is not a quick scheme for success. The most successful immigrant has always tried to expand their identities beyond just that of the nations they were born in. They learned to think and act beyond one’s group or nation, and they grow themselves into much bigger shoes for success.

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