Australia plans to overhaul Skilled Migration Program with a focus on more Permanent Migration

Published 15 Jul 2022 / Updated 15 Jul 2022

Key highlights:

A recent OECD report found Australia's labour shortage was the second-worst among developed nations.
Australian business groups are advocating for an intake level of 200,000 skilled migrants to address and alleviate labour shortages.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is in talks with Australian business groups about a lift in Australia migration intake.
The Australian government is focusing on creating better pathways for skilled workers to have a permanent presence in the country.

The start of the financial year on 1st July has provided an opportunity to reset Australia’s migration program. There is focus on opening up opportunities for people from overseas and a large increase in the permanent migration intake.

During a recent press conference, the Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese addressed the issues of migration and visa backlogs in relation to skills shortages, saying Australia needs to create better pathways for workers to have a permanent presence in the country.

He also said that the government intends to bring together businesses, unions, civil society groups and other levels of government.

It is absurd at a time of skills shortages, there are people who have been waiting for such a long period of time.

We do have some short-term skills shortages that will always need to be filled by temporary migration.

Mr Albanese said temporary migration would continue to play a role, but also indicated the possibility of more long-term or permanent options.

One of the things that we can consider, that I’ve spoken about, is — how is (it) that for some particular professions, that have been short of supply for such a long period of time, we continue to rely on temporary migration rather than more permanent form.

And we need to make sure that we have better pathways as well to a permanent presence in Australia for people to give us the skills that they need.