Australia is significantly going to bring changes in its immigration system while aiming to speed up the process of getting highly skilled workers into the country. The federal Labor government aims to simplify the process of obtaining permanent residency in Australia.
To achieve this, they plan to modify the current system used to select skilled migrants. The points test, which is currently used to evaluate candidates' skill sets, will be altered to include individuals who will be more beneficial to the Australian economy.
Clare O’Neil, the home affairs minister said that the migration system of Australia is broken and it is breaking businesses. Also, it is failing the migrants as well as Australians and that cannot continue.
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The ageing Australian population is posing a great challenge to the country and a system that is similar to Canada and Germany will be implemented to bring more skilled migrants. The government has announced that it plans to streamline the visa process for highly skilled professionals, making it more efficient and less time-consuming.
Additionally, measures will be taken to ensure that international students are encouraged to stay and contribute to the workforce. As part of the new system, temporary skilled visa holders who were previously unable to apply for permanent residency will now have the opportunity to do so by the end of the year.
In September 2022, to combat the widespread shortage of staff in businesses, Australia raised its intake of permanent migrants from 35,000 to 195,000. the Australian government announced it would raise the migrant wage threshold of temporary skilled workers from AUD 53,900 to AUD 70,000 from July 1.
The government said that 90% of all full-time job opportunities in Australia are paid more than the current threshold which would lead to the exploitation of the migrant workers. A landmark review has found that the country’s immigration system encourages 1.8 million guest workers to get the status of “permanently temporary” for the strict permanent migration caps.
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There are still uncertainties over the review that the government will adopt, still, it is indicated that it would do away with the skill lists, allow more workers to work in caring occupations and deal with long waiting times for family visas.
A review section also said that the skilled occupation lists for employer sponsorship by the government are outdated and also there is little evidence that they are successful. The review also claimed that skilled occupation lists are not reflecting the current or anticipated skilled labour needs including the transiting to a net-zero economy and creating critical and sovereign capabilities.
Source: Hindustan Times, Economic Times
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