Australian Immigration plans to introduce changes in the skills-based visa programme
Australian Immigration department is planning to make changes in the skills-based visa programs. They are introducing a demand-driven immigration system.
A significant overhaul is expected in Australia in its skills-based visa programme. Many skilled occupation lists and many visa sub-categories could be axed and slashed.
This is for making way for the demand-driven immigration system. In a demand-driven immigration system, businesses will play a significant role in deciding which jobs need skilled workers and which don’t.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil said that the ideas proposed for the upcoming immigration policies would shake the immigration system. They are ready to adopt the new approach to immigration amid the workforce shortage in the country.
The main goal of the Australian government is to boost its economic growth and productivity. They also want to secure the nation’s geostrategic influence and strengthen its sovereign capabilities.
A key role is expected to be played by the Unions and industry in the review to protect workers from exploitation.
The current Australian visa and immigration system is unable to attract the much-needed talented, skilled workers to the country. The current visa processing time for these visa categories is 15 months.
The new policy supports saying that with the abolition of the skill list, the processing time will speed up, and they will be able to find the accurate areas for workforce shortage.
This will also help the workers to apply for jobs which require high skills and have high wages. Many businesses in Australia are offering high salaries to skilled foreign workers as they are unable to find suitable people for job in Australia.
Sectors like IT and healthcare are in urgent need of workers and are offering high salaries. Also the hospitality sector is lacking in workforce and have urged government to make changes in the immigration policies so that backpackers like before can help them in the vaccation season.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil also said that this new review would help build a more efficient and capable immigration system which will help in attracting skilled workers and also help in reducing the workforce shortages in the country.
The new system will have simple migration rules for migrants and employers, making the migration process easy.
