A quarter of young Australians aged 15 to 25 were born overseas.
But little is known about this group, the challenges they face, the things they value, their vision for Australia, and their experiences of racism and discrimination.
Now, a group of researchers are conducting a world-first census of refugee and migrant young Australians that they hope will help shape Australia's multicultural future.
Dr Rimi Khan, a research fellow from the University of Melbourne, says it is a massive undertaking.
"We're really excited about it," Dr Khan tells SBS.
"I guess it's a response to the fact that Australia's population is really changing and there's a lot of speculation in the media and in the government about what that means. But a lot of that commentary isn't necessarily based on research - particularly when it comes to talking about multicultural young people.
"There hasn't been any systematic national research on what life is like for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, so this is really just trying to fill a big gap in the data that we have for this particular demographic."
The research, which is being conducted by the University of Melbourne and eight community organisations and government agencies around Australia, focuses on economic, social and cultural indicators.
Dr Khan says they are hoping to get 10,000 young people aged between 15 and 25 to respond to the online survey, which closes at the end of October.
And you don't have to have been born overseas to take part - it's open to all young people who identify as being multicultural Australian.
There hasn't been any systematic national research on what life is like for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds, so this is really just trying to fill a big gap in the data that we have for this particular demographic.
"We're not keeping it focused just on first generation, because we're aware that people of second and third generation migrant backgrounds still have migrant-like experiences," she says.
"They may experience discrimination or they may speak another language other than English at home and be translators for their parents or family members.
"So they still are in a position to really tell us something interesting about what life's like for people from migrant backgrounds."
The data collected through the survey will be made available online through a knowledge hub - an online repository of the census data that organisations, the media and members of the public will be able to access.
While this is the first time anything like this has been done before, Dr Khan says they are hoping to repeat the survey on a biannual basis.
"In the long-term we're hoping it's something that will inform policy-making within government, and just help the narrative around migrant young people to come from a more informed place," she says.
"There's a lot of negative media commentary and public debate and anxiety around multiculturalism and I think having a more informed place for that discussion to come from will be really important."
To take part in the survey, to go Multicultural Youth Australia before October 31.
