Building a New Life in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants

About the study

Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA): The Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants is a study of how humanitarian migrants settle into life in Australia.  

The study ran from 2013 to 2018 and recommenced in 2022. The 2022 collection was a significant milestone for BNLA participants. It marked 10 years since their arrival to Australia. 

The study aims to gain a better understanding of the wellbeing and experiences of humanitarian migrants settling in Australia. The study investigates factors that may facilitate positive outcomes such as: 

• participation in society 
• general health 
• general happiness. 

Collected information is used to inform policy and program development to successfully meet the needs of: 

• migrants 
• their host communities 
• government priorities. 

Visit the Australian Institute of Family Studies website for information about the BNLA study(Opens in a new tab/window). 

Read about the study in the BNLA fact sheet. 

Study participants

The first stage of the study saw more than 1,500 migrating units (2,399 individuals) interviewed. The study follows individuals and families through their settlement journey and, over time, looks at their: 

• experiences 
• challenges 
• adaptations  
• outcomes. 

Table: BNLA sample size and response rates

This table shows for each wave the number of BNLA participants who responded and the retention rates.   

Notes: 

1. Response rates are calculated as a percentage of the in-scope participants at the commencement of fieldwork for each wave. Response rates are not provided for wave 1. 
2. Retention rates are calculated as a percentage of the wave 1 participants who completed each wave. They do not account for participants who are no longer in-scope (for example, moved overseas, passed away) or new sample members recruited in subsequent waves. Therefore, they only partially reflect the full response picture. 
3. In-scope population excludes respondents who withdrew from the study prior to the wave or were removed for administrative reasons. 

Governance

We are responsible for BNLA. The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) manage data collection on our behalf. Verian undertake the fieldwork. 

The BNLA Advisory Group informed the study design and development. Members included: 

• Commonwealth government officials 
• external stakeholders 
• experts in refugee resettlement 
• experts in longitudinal survey methods and analysis. 

Visit the Australian Institute of Family Studies website for information about the BNLA research team(Opens in a new tab/window). 

How to access the data

BNLA data is available for free through the Australian Data Archive Dataverse platform.  

The data is for approved researchers from government, academic institutions and non-profit organisations. 

Visit Dataverse(Opens in a new tab/window). 

Learn more about how to apply for access to our datasets. 

Research and publications

BNLA data has improved our understanding of the issues facing humanitarian migrants. Research using BNLA data has been published in over 50 articles, discussion papers, reports or book chapters.  

Visit the Australian Institute of Family Studies website for BNLA findings and publications(Opens in a new tab/window). 

Data highlights

Data Highlight No.2/2015: Building a New Life in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Humanitarian Migrants - Findings from the First Three Waves by David Marshall 

Technical and scoping reports

• Design Options for Building a New Life in Australia: The Longitudinal Survey of Humanitarian Migrants 
• Position Paper – Building a New Life in Australia: The Longitudinal Survey of Humanitarian Migrants 
• Key Research Questions for a Longitudinal Survey of Refugee and other Humanitarian Migrants 

Find other research publications using BNLA data on our FloSse Research(Opens in a new tab/window) website. 

Contact us

For more information about the BNLA study, contact LongitudinalStudies@dss.gov.au.