BIG AUSTRALIA is back - Migration changes an extraordinary reversal of Dutton’s policies
The Jobs and Skills Summit meeting held last week offered an astonishing policy reversal from Peter Dutton's tenure as immigration minister. We saw a significant increase in state/territory nominated skilled visas as a critical component of the bigger scheme unveiled during the Summit.
This includes:
An increase of 35,000 migrant places this year, bringing the total to 195,000 places
Regional places went up 25% to 34,000 and State and Territory place allocations went up nearly 65% to 31,000
$36 million funding will be allocated to clear the current visa backlogs and hundreds of extra public servants will be deployed to speed up application process in order to meet the needs of the current labour market
Extension of visas and relaxation of work restrictions for international students to help strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour
The new guidelines seek to undo most of the harm done to Australia's visa system and put the country on the road to a competitive immigration system on a global scale.
In his speech at the Sydney Policy Lab just one week prior, Mr. Giles expressed his frustration and concerns with the previous administration's inaction. The costly efforts to privatize the visa system were noted, and he stated that he believes "Visa processing is a vital - and fundamental - duty of the national government." Also, he believes that other nations were attracting skilled workers much more effectively than Australia was.
Home Affairs will get a $36 million funding boost to clear Australia’s extraordinary visa backlog, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles has announced, as hundreds of extra public servants are deployed to process applications from businesses in desperate need of workers.
“Good governance demands a figure far smaller.”
As numerous unfavorable figures from the previous administration suggested that nearly 1 million visas were still pending processing, Mr. Giles guaranteed that the visa backlog will eventually be cleared as close to 100,000 visas have already been removed from that total.
Labor is also poised to increase the salary a migrant must earn to qualify for a skilled worker visa, but unions and businesses disagree about how high the threshold should be.
The promises of the Labor government to clear up the mess made by the previous administration is also supported by the team at No Borders. This move by the current administration is a good start to bring back Australia’s global position as a desirable migration destination.
What does this mean for you?
If you are reading this newsletter, it is highly likely that you were interested or researching about migrating to Australia. With the newly announced changes introduced, more options will now be made available for skilled migrants like yourself. If you have not already planned out the best migration pathway for you and your family, now would be the best time to start and take advantage of all the opportunities presented.
Enquire with us to start realizing your migration goals today.
