The visa process for highly skilled professionals will be expedited. Illustration photo: Reuters
The federal Labor government says the current immigration system, which allows skilled migrants to be selected using a points test, will be overhauled to identify people with the right skill sets the Australian economy needs in the future.
Home Secretary Clare O'Neil told parliament : "Our immigration system is broken. It's failing our businesses. And most importantly, it's failing our people. That can't go on."
Australia has been competing with peers such as Canada and Germany to attract more highly skilled overseas workers, with demand rising due to an ageing population. The government says visas for skilled professionals will be made faster and easier, while also retaining international graduates from Australian universities.
Clare O'Neil added that temporary skilled visa holders or those who have been refused the opportunity to apply for permanent residency will be able to do so later this year. However, this will not increase Australia's annual permanent migration intake, she said.
Australia will increase its permanent migration intake by 35,000 to 195,000 by September this year to help businesses address widespread staff shortages and has pledged to deploy more staff to speed up visa processing.
From July 1, the Australian Government said it would raise the salary for skilled migrant workers from 53,900 Australian dollars to 70,000 Australian dollars (46,250 US dollars) and keep it at the same level from 2023.
The difficulty in attracting skilled migrants comes as Australia tries to boost economic growth and productivity in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with unemployment hovering at 3.5% and shortages of skilled workers across a range of industries including aged care, health and defence, Bloomberg reported.
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