Australia to overhaul immigration system, smooth entry for skilled workers

Australia on Thursday proposed overhauling its immigration system to speed up getting highly skilled workers into the country and smoothening the path to permanent residency.

The federal Labor government said the current system used to select skilled migrants - the points test - will be modified to identify people with the correct skill sets the Australian economy needs going forward.

"Our migration system is broken. It is failing our businesses, it is failing migrants themselves. And most importantly, it is failing Australians. That cannot continue," Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said in a speech at the National Press Club.


Australia has been competing with comparable countries, like Canada and Germany, to lure more skilled migrants, with the surge in demand exacerbated by an ageing population.

The government said the visa process for high-skilled professionals will be made quicker and easier, while steps would be taken to retain international students.


Temporary skilled visa holders, who had been denied even the opportunity to apply for permanent residency, will be able to do that by the end of this year, O'Neil said. But it will not add to Australia's annual intake of permanent migrants, she said.

In September, Australia raised its intake of permanent migrants to 195,000 this financial year, up by 35,000, to help businesses battling widespread staff shortages and pledged more staff and funds to speed up visa processing.

From July 1, the government said it would raise the migrant wage threshold of temporary skilled workers to A$70,000 ($46,250) from A$53,900, stuck at the same level since 2013.

Around 90% of all full-time jobs in Australia are now paid more than the current threshold, leading to the exploitation of migrant workers, the government said.

Australia’s migration system encourages 1.8 million guest workers to be “permanently temporary” due to strict caps on permanent migration, a landmark review has found.

While it is still unclear how much of the review the Albanese government will adopt, a section released before O’Neil’s appearance, indicated it would be pushed to ditch skills lists, allow more workers in caring occupations and tackle long wait times for family visas.

A section of review which was released before Clare O'Neil's speech today also said that government’s skilled occupation lists for employer sponsorship are outdated, and there is little evidence of their success. The review also said that skilled occupation lists “do not reflect current or anticipated skilled labour needs”, including the transition to a net-zero economy and building of critical and sovereign capabilities.