The Hon Clare O’Neil, Minister for Home Affairs and the Hon Andrew Giles, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, made important announcements during the Jobs and Skills Summit which took place September 1-2, 2022.
During the summit an in depth review of the Australian migration program was announced.
Here is a summary of key points
Migration program planning levels 2022-23
An announced increase in the permanent migration program numbers for this financial year to:
- 195,000 places in total (up 35,000)
- 34,000 regional places (up 9,000)
- 31,000 state and territory places (up 20,000)
Increased funding
$36.1 million dollars will be invested in visa processing to increase staff capacity by 500 people in the next nine months.
Priorities
Areas for immediate action
- Increasing the migration program numbers
- Improving the visa processing timeframes
- A proposal for international graduates of Australian universities to be able to work longer in Australia, post graduation
- Extending the COVID concessions on student visa holder work rights until 2023, when they will cease.
Areas for urgent further actions
- Moving away from temporary migration to permanency and citizenship, by developing these pathways.
- Reassessing the occupation lists to ensure they are fit for purpose
- Raising Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT)
- Addressing worker exploitation (2023 priority)
- Examining industry sponsorship
- Addressing regional labour shortages.
Other points of discussion
- International students were recognised as providing a large labour market segment within Australia, higher than the permanent migration program and natural population growth.
ADDITIONAL EXPLANATIONS
BOOST TO MIGRATION INTAKE
Australia will take in 35,000 more migrants under its permanent migration program and speed up visas for foreign workers.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil announced Australia’s permanent migration cap would be lifted from 160,000 to a record 195,000 places this year.
“Australia’s migration system is not serving our needs. And I think we should change it. Because the coming 30 years will look very different for Australia than the last 30 did and that shift (is) moving away from a system which is almost entirely focused on how we keep people out, to one that recognises that we are in a global war for talent.”
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil
AUSTRALIA TO FOCUS ON PERMANENT MIGRATION PATHWAYS
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said the federal government had shifted its focus from temporary migration to permanency and pathways to citizenship.
The regions will get 34,000 permanent migrants or 9000 more than the previous target, under the lifting of the cap.
The state-sponsored spots will lift from 11,000 to 31,000.
Ms O’Neil detailed the extent of the nation’s skills crisis, which she said was “real and affecting all of us”.
“We have nurses who cannot work for double and triple shifts that they have been pulling for the last three years,” she said.
“We have got an agricultural workforce where farmers are having to leave fruit on vines, rotting, because there is no one to pick them,” she said.
Ms O’Neil said the Covid-19 pandemic had presented a rare opportunity to reform the country’s immigration system.
$36.1m TO GO TOWARDS CLEARING VISA BACKLOG
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles told the summit the Albanese government would spend $36.1m on clearing the visa backlog of almost 1 million workers.
The money will be spent on hiring a surge workforce of 500 more department staff over the next nine months.
“Visa processing for too long has been neglected, with far-reaching consequences for our economy and our society,” Mr Giles said.
“There were almost 1 million visas waiting for this government at the election. Today that number is 900,000. We understand that when people wait and wait that the uncertainty can become unmanageable.”
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles
Mr Giles also flagged an increase in the income thresholds for work visas for the first time in almost a decade.
Work visas currently require a minimum wage of $53,900 a year.
Business groups have warned that too large an increase to the threshold would stifle opportunities to get workers in occupations that are vital but lower paid.
Mr Giles said it was also “vital to address migrant worker exploitation” and that there would be actions taken in this area next year.
‘REGIONAL AUSTRALIA SHOULDN’T BE FORGOTTEN’
David Littleproud has thrown his support behind permanent migration pathways for people who move to the regions.
Mr Littleproud said 172,000 additional workers were needed to prevent a food security crisis, citing contributions from the National Farmers’ Federation and the Council of Small Business Organisations.
“And it’s not just in the agricultural sector in regional areas. It’s also in many of the schools, pubs, mechanics, we need a whole range of it,” he said.
WRAP UP
“It’s my great hope that this jobs and skills summit marks the beginning of a new culture of co-operation, a new focus on working together to deal with the urgent challenges that our economy is facing,”
Prime Minister
If you are in Australia and would like to know the possibilities for permanent residency in your state, please contact via: enquire@visaroos.com
Dario Ishiyama – Principal Registered Migration Agent, Visaroos
MARN: 180046