Good news, or better news, for skilled Greeks who want to make a life in Australia.
The Treasurer, Dr. Jim Chalmers, emphasized the reform of the migration system in the budget papers. In the papers, it said that the migration system will “ensure it serves Australia’s national interest and complements the skills and capabilities of Australian workers.”
After a review of the migration system, the government has released “A Migration System for a More Prosperous and Secure Australia – Outline of the Government’s Migration Strategy” for consultation, which presents changes to build a migration system that works for Australia. In the Budget Papers, the government says it plans to deliver the final Migration Strategy later in 2023.
This Labor government wants to augment the number of skilled migrants to address persistent skill shortages, particularly after two years of Covid-induced lockdowns and a freeze on global travel in 2020 and 2021. The Federal government says it will allocate “70 percent of places” in the 2023-24 permanent Migration Program to the Skill stream. There will also be reformed and improved “pathways to permanency for temporary skilled migrants.” This, it hopes, will create greater security for business and families.
As a measure to further aid the now desperate need for skilled workers across the Australian economy, the government will provide an “extra two years of post-study work rights to Temporary Graduate visa holders with select degrees, which will improve the pipeline of skilled labor in key sectors.” In addition, the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold will increase to $70,000 from 1 July 2023 to ensure skilled migration settings are better targeted.
The contentious and often exploitative temporary migrant worker system will be addressed by boosting the “mobility of sponsored migrants.” The measure includes $50 million over four years from 2023-24 for extra enforcement and compliance activities and the “co-designing enhanced safeguards and protections for workers.”
