RESEARCH PAPER SERIES, 2013–14              23 January 2014

Boat arrivals in Australia: a quick guide to the statistics

Janet Phillips
Social Policy Section

For an update of this guide see: Boat arrivals and boat ‘turnbacks’ in Australia: a quick guide to the statistics

This quick guide provides statistics on the number of asylum seekers that have arrived by boat in Australia since 1976 when the first wave of boats carrying people seeking asylum from the aftermath of the Vietnam War began to arrive.

It reproduces and updates the appendices of a more detailed Parliamentary Library research paper, Boat arrivals in Australia since 1976. The full research paper includes an overview of the historical and political context surrounding the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, details of Australian government policy responses since 1976, and trends in public opinion.

It is important to note that, while every effort has been made to ensure consistency, the statistics provided in this guide have been compiled by Parliamentary Library staff over a period of many years from a variety of sources.

For example, since 2008 our financial year figures have been compiled from ministerial or departmental media releases and transcripts. As not all media releases specify the number of crew members versus passengers, and some boat arrivals may not be subject to ministerial or departmental media releases at all, these figures may differ slightly from other sources. While we are confident our financial year figures accurately reflect available Government data, due to the inconsistency of the sources over the years these figures should be regarded as an estimate.

However, our calendar year figures since 2009 have been compiled from a single source—regular advice provided to the Parliamentary Library by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. As a result, we can have confidence in the consistency and accuracy of that data.

Statistics in this guide include:

Table 1: Boat arrivals since 1976 by calendar year

Table 2: Boat arrivals since 1976 by financial year

Graph 1: Boat arrivals by calendar year since 1976 and financial year since 1989-90

Table 1: Boat arrivals since 1976 by calendar year

Year

Number of boats

Number of people

1976

111

1977

868

1978

746

1979

304

1980

0

1981

30

1982–88

0

Year

Number of boats

Number of people  (excludes crew)

1989

1

26

1990

2

198

1991

6

214

1992

6

216

1993

3

81

1994

18

953

1995

7

237

1996

19

660

1997

11

339

1998

17

200

1999

86

3721

2000

51

2939

2001

43

5516

2002

1

1

2003

1

53

2004

1

15

2005

4

11

2006

6

60

2007

5

148

2008

7

161

Year

Number of boats

Crew

Number of people (excludes crew)

2009

60

141

2726

2010

134

345

6555

2011

69

168

4565

2012

278

392

17 204

2013

300

644

20 587

2014 (to 17.1.14)

0

0

0

Sources:

•        1976–1988: K Betts, ‘Boatpeople and public opinion in Australia’, People and place, vol. 9, no. 4, 2001, p. 34. Numbers of boats and crew members not specified.

•        1989–2008: Department of Immigration advice provided to the Parliamentary Library on 22 June 2009 (excludes crew members).

•        2009–2014: Customs and Border Protection advice provided to the Parliamentary Library on 17 January 2014.

Table 2: Boat arrivals since 1976 by financial year

Year

Number of boats

Number of people

1975–76

1

5

1976–77

7

204

1977–78

43

1423

1978–79

6

351

1979–80

2

56

1980–81

1

30

1981–82 to 1988–89

0

0

1989–90

3

224

1990–91

5

158

1991–92

3

78

1992–93

4

194

1993–94

6

194

1994–95

21

1071

1995–96

14

589

1996–97

13

365

1997–98

13

157

1998–99

42

921

1999–00

75

4175

2000–01

54

4137

2001–02

19

3039

2002–03

0

0

2003–04

3

82

2004–05

0

0

2005–06

8

61

2006–07

4

133

2007–08

3

25

Year

Number of boats*

Number of people (excludes crew)*

Number of people (includes crew)**

2008–09

23

985

1033

2009–10

117

5327

5609

2010–11

89

4730

4940

Year

Number of boats

Crew

Number of people (excludes crew)

2011–12

110

190

7983

2012–13

403

423

25 173

2013–14 (to 31.12.13)

104

198

7474

Notes:

•        Data from 2001–02 onwards includes arrivals at both excised and non-excised places, but excludes boats returned from whence they came (boat turnarounds).

•        Deaths at sea in Australian waters may or may not be included in the figures provided by the Department of Immigration, but are included in figures compiled by the authors. Deaths include 5 deceased at sea 16 April 2009; 12 deceased at sea 1 November 2009; 1 crew member who allegedly drowned on 20 November 2011; and the estimated 48 who drowned during the boat tragedy on 15 December 2010 where a boat sank on approach to Christmas Island (42 people were rescued, 30 bodies were recovered and an estimated 18 people drowned). For further details see M Hutton, Drownings on the public record of people attempting to enter Australia irregularly by boat since 1998, sievx.com website, accessed 21 January 2014,

•        Arrival figures do not include; two arrivals in an ‘esky’ on 17 January 2009; four on Deliverance Island with no boat on 29 April 2009; and 78 on board MV Oceanic Viking intercepted in Indonesian waters in November 2009.

Sources:

•        1975–76 to 2007–08: Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), Submission to the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Immigration Detention Network inquiry (no. 32), Figure 2, p. 18, 1 September 2011, accessed 21 January 2014. Numbers of crew members not specified or not included.

•        2008–09 to 2010–11: *Ibid. (excludes crew members); and **figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases (includes crew members).  

•        2011–12: figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases. Figures include 10 Chinese asylum seekers attempting to travel to NZ by boat in April 2012 who were taken to Darwin after making a distress call and the 18 deceased recovered midway between Christmas Island and Indonesia by Australia search and rescue vessels on 21 and 27 June 2012.

•        2012–13: figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases. Figures include: 1 deceased on board a vessel which arrived on 15 November 2012; 2 deceased recovered from a vessel which capsized on 25 March; and 9 deceased confirmed, but not recovered from the water, from a vessel which capsized on 7 June 2013.

•        2013–14: figures compiled from ministerial and departmental press releases. Figures include: 1 deceased infant male recovered from a vessel on 12 July 2013; and 4 deceased recovered from a vessel which capsized 16 July 2013. Figures do not include: 5 people believed drowned but not recovered on 20 August 2013.

Graph 1: Boat arrivals by calendar year since 1976 and financial year since 1989–90

Source: the statistics provided in this guide are represented in graph format above.

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