Research sample and methodology
Learn about the Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA) study methodology, and how participants were chosen for inclusion.
Study sample
The BNLA study cohort includes 2,399 humanitarian migrants who arrived in Australia (offshore pathway) or were granted permanent protection visas (onshore pathway) between May and December 2013.
The Settlement Database was used as a sampling frame to identify eligible participants.
Most participants arrived in Australia in 2013, live in Melbourne and Sydney, and have experienced trauma and persecution before their arrival.
The cohort included individuals and families aged from 15 to over 80 and represent diverse cultural and religious backgrounds:
- coming from 35 different countries
- speaking 49 different languages.
Participant recruitment
Interviewers initially contacted the Principal Applicant on the visa application to invite them to participate. The Principal Applicant had to consent to the study before other members of the migrating unit (Secondary Applicants) could be invited.
Participant retention
All wave 1 participants were invited to participate in subsequent waves.
The response rates of participants for subsequent waves were:
- wave 2 – 83.7% (n = 2,009; N = 2,399)
- wave 3 – 78.9% (n= 1,894; N=2,349)
- wave 4 – 80.4% (n= 1,929; N= 2,332)
- wave 5 – 78.4% (n = 1,881, N = 2,333)
- wave 6 – 54.2% (n = 1,223, N = 2,256).
Data collection
To date, 6 waves of data have been collected.
| Data collection period | Data collection method | Number of interviews | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | Oct 2013 – Mar 2014 | Face-to-face interview | 2,399 |
| Wave 2 | Oct 2014 – Mar 2015 | Computer-assisted telephone interview | 2,099 |
| Wave 3 | Oct 2015 – Mar 2016 | Face-to-face interview | 1,894 |
| Wave 4 | Oct 2016 – Mar 2017 | Computer-assisted telephone interview | 1,929 |
| Wave 5 | Oct 2017 – Mar 2018 | Face-to-face interview | 1,881 |
| Wave 6 | Jan 2023 – Jul 2023 | Face-to-face and computer-assisted web interview | 1,223 |
The study paused during the COVID-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2021 and resumed in 2022.
See the study questionnaires.