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Coping as a migrant

Wilson Luna

Australia is a nation of migrants. Immigration has been central to Australian population growth and national development since British colonization in 1788. Since the end of the Second World War, nearly seven million people have migrated to Australia and made it their home, and without them we would not be enjoying the prosperity and the great prospects at the present time. Being a migrant has its special challenges.

Most migrants have come to Australia to work, produce, and fill skills shortages. Migration is a life forming event. Many migrants come form non English speaking backgrounds and as such have special challenges.

Migration means leaving things behind—home, loved ones, lifestyle, traditions, food patterns, familiar environment. People grieve for the things they leave behind. Yet for the immigrants there is no time to grieve, there is English to be learn, find a place to live in, find a job(s), find child care, kindergarten or schools for children. The challenges are many:

• Difficulty in communicating—difficulty in learning English

• Occupational difficulties—finding work, recognition of overseas qualifications, retraining

• to develop new skills, child care facilities, exploitation of employees

• Accommodation—difficulty in finding housing, adjusting to different kinds of housing and process of obtaining the same

• Educational differences between societies, finding appropriate schools for children; child care

• Family—anguish over family separation and desire for family reunion

• Culture shocks—lack of knowledge of history and current culture of the new society;

• Adjusting to climate 

• Social contacts—feelings of isolation due to loss of family and familiar social interaction,

• search for own cultural group

• Coping with racism and prejudice

• Psychological implications of stress of total re-adjustment, feeling of loss of identity and status

• Financial difficulties—even with savings many immigrants find themselves short of money to buy essentials

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Author's Biography

Wilson Luna is an author, wealth adviser and founder of Your Family Your Money. Your Family Your Money’s goal is to simplify traditionally complex financial strategies, demystify financial jargon and debunk common financial myths, becoming every family’s first stop for financial advice, information and inspiration.