The Albanese government has released a review of Australia’s migration system, proposing major reform for the 1.8 million temporary migrants with work rights.
We’ve looked at how the proposed changes would affect five different cohorts of people coming to Australia.
1. Skilled migrants
The review proposes, and the government has agreed, to create three tiers of regulation for migrants:
A “light-touch” approach for very skilled migrants on high salaries
A mid-level cohort of migrants who earn above the amount of the temporary skilled migration income threshold
A lower-wage cohort in sectors experiencing skills shortages, such as the caring economy
The government has accepted the need to “recalibrate the points test to select migrants with high human capital who will make the greatest long-term economic contribution”.
The review recommends removing the requirement for labour-market testing.
The government will raise the temporary skilled migration income threshold, the pay floor for skilled workers, to $70,000 and consult business and unions on the pay threshold for the top tier.
The government is also considering overhauling the business innovation and investment program and global talent visa – but the review does not recommend scrapping them.
2. Exploited workers
The reviewers said they were “greatly concerned by the way the current system heightens the risk of exploitation faced by temporary migrant workers”.
In particular, employer sponsorship has “created the opportunity for exploitation … because it stifles the ability and willingness of an employee to report non-compliance”.
The review proposes allowing temporary migrant workers to move from their current job and be given up to six months to find work with another employer within the same sector or type of work.
Employers of temporary visa-holders would have to register, so that those with a “history of serious workplace breaches would be deregistered and ineligible to employ visa-holders”.
3. Working holidaymakers
The review proposes the original purpose of the working holidaymaker program as a “cultural exchange” be restored, by no longer tying “migration outcomes to the performance of work”.
Currently, working holidaymakers can come to Australia for 12 months, with extensions to a second year available in return for performing three months of specified work such as regional or agricultural work.
The review says the government should consider limiting working holidaymakers to one year. However, this would be subject to international agreements, such as Australia’s free trade deal with the UK, which allows UK citizens to apply for up to three successive working holiday visas with no requirement to undertake specified work.
4. International students
The review finds that Australia “is not focused enough on capturing high potential international students”.
The integrity of the system would be improved by moving from “a genuine temporary entrant” criterion to a “genuine student” test, to prevent people enrolling in low-value courses just to achieve work rights. English language requirements should align with applicants for skilled visas, it says.
The review proposes providing a temporary graduate visa to students “automatically upon study completion”, which would last long enough for the government to identify “high [value] potential graduates who will success on a permanent skilled visa”.
For others, the government should “minimise the time former students can remain in Australia on a temporary basis”.
5. Parents and families
The review finds family reunion is “an important component of a strong and stable community” but wait times mean it can take up to 40 years for parents to join their children on a permanent basis in Australia.
The review proposes introduction of a parent visa lottery to prevent further backlogs, and a “cheaper, more attractive temporary visa product for parents that might in the long term replace a permanent parent program”.
Although the government acknowledged the “need for reform of the family program” the outline says this “will be considered separately” to the final strategy for late 2023, and reforms to improve skilled migration will take priority.
