Anthony Albanese government to make major changes to migration system

Australia’s points test for migrants will be updated and highly-skilled professionals will find it easier to work in Australia under massive changes to the migration system.

An Albanese Government review found the ‘broken’ system was not meeting either current or future needs.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil announced the creation of a three-tiered skilled migration system for the country for the first time.

The three-pronged model would firstly create a highly skilled stream with fast turn around times.

Controversial labour market testing rules, which require jobs to be advertised for local applicants before an employer can consider bringing in workers, will be scrapped. 

The overhaul will cover permanent residency for temporary visa holders, and ways to bring in skilled migrants to boost the economy.

About two million people in Australia are on temporary visas, with about 10 per cent a year becoming permanent migrants.

Ms O’Neil commissioned the review last year and will flesh out the government’s new policy when she addresses the National Press Club.

‘Our migration system is broken. It’s not delivering for Australians. It’s not delivering for our businesses, and it’s not delivering for migrants themselves,’ she told ABC’s 7.30 Report on Wednesday night.

‘It is a horrendously complex system that makes it really hard to bring high-skilled workers into the country who will lift productivity.’

She said for employers in technology industries, for example, the skills list was ‘archaic’ and ‘out of date’.

The Minister said wage exploitation of temporary migrant workers was also rife and needed to be curbed.

Ms O’Neil warned Australia risked falling behind other developed immigrant countries such as Canada by becoming a nation of ‘permanently temporary’ residents.

Some employer groups have called for looser restrictions on skilled migration caps and target industries, while others want a rethink of English language requirements and rules regarding post-study employment.

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley said the government needed to ensure the new policies and settings did not put undue pressure on the already stretched rental housing market.

Opposition Home Affairs spokesman James Paterson said Australia was a richer country because of the millions of migrants who had come to its shores.

But the size, composition and timing of the migration intake were ‘legitimate areas for public debate’, he told Sky News.

‘It’s time for (the government) to front up and provide some answers – what is their plan, how many people do they intend to bring in.

‘How are they going to reduce the numbers of temporary visa holders while also solving the skills shortage?’ Senator Paterson said.

Labor MP Peter Khalil, the parliamentary intelligence and security committee chair, and said the migration system was ‘unjust, slow and unplanned’.

‘Over the last nine years under a Liberal government it’s become a dog’s breakfast,’ he told Sky News.

Mr Khalil said one of the key problems was the increase in temporary visas while permanent migration had largely remained steady.

The Albanese Government will make significant changes to a ‘broken’ migration system after a review found it was not meeting either current or future needs. Anthony Albanese is pictured

He said migrants who were allowed in the past to ‘put a stake in the ground’ had gone on to build modern-day Australia.

The Government’s review considered 483 public submissions from individuals, corporations, unions, think tanks and other interested parties.

The executive summary of the report stated that ‘Migration is a central element of Australia’s national identity. 

‘As a country, we actively seek new members of our community from across the world, welcoming a disproportionately large component of the world’s migration flows.’