Refugees prove entrepreneurial nature

Humanitarian migrants to Australia have proven themselves the most entrepreneurial of all people who migrate down under.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics finds that while almost two-thirds of tax-paying migrants came on skilled visas, the four per cent who came in the humanitarian program were more likely to earn money from their own small businesses.

Migrants earned a total of $38 billion in 2009-10, the first year for which the bureau has examined data looking at how differences in personal income is influenced by visa type.