🚀 Permanent skilled workers to be top priority in major Australian immigration revamp

Published 20 Jul 2022 / Updated 20 Jul 2022

As part of an anticipated increase to the size and composition of the permanent migration intake - the Australian government will prioritise the processing of almost 60,000 permanent visa applications lodged by overseas skilled workers.

The move is aimed at addressing the demand of skilled workers in areas of dire shortage such as health, education and aged care.

As per Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil

We’ve got to get the system moving again, and then we have to have the deeper conversation

There is a current total backlog of more than 960,000 applications across all categories, of which more than 560,000 have been lodged by people outside Australia.

Starting immediately, there will be a reprioritization and departmental resources will be diverted from the generally lower skilled permanent visa applications lodged by temporary visa holders already in Australia so that applications by more higher skilled workers from overseas can go to the front of the queue.

Ms O’Neil said there must also be longer-term changes to the permanent migration program that balanced the demands of business and the unions. Business groups are demanding the cap be lifted to at least 200,000 for the next two years to help fix the labour and skills crisis.

In the last two years, more than 80 percent of permanent visas were granted to those already in the country.

Ms O’Neil also revealed steady progress was being made in processing the huge backlog of visa applications that developed while international borders were closed to foreign workers for almost two years because of COVID-19.

She said 623,000 temporary and permanent visa applications had been processed since 1 June 2022. Processing times for offshore permanent visa applicants had fallen from 11 months in May to four months in June.

Another part of the strategy will include deprioritising the previous government’s Global Talent program, which spent millions supposedly scouring the globe for highly skilled professionals.

In the past financial year, more than 75% percent of the Global Talent visas were awarded to applicants already in Australia and mostly already in another visa category.