Australia is overhauling its migration system relying on temporary workers by going back to its roots to encourage permanent residency.
About two million people in Australia are on temporary visas and about 10 per cent of them a year become permanent migrants.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil commissioned a review of the country’s migration system last year and will flesh out the government’s new policy to fill worker shortages exacerbated by the pandemic when she addresses the National Press Club on Thursday.
“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She said for employers in tech-based industries, for example, the skills list was “archaic” and “out of date”.
Ms O’Neil said wage exploitation of temporary migrant workers was also rife and needed to be curbed.
She 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.
Source: AAP
