Permanent Migration intake boosts call by businesses in Australia
Many businesses in Australia have called for an increase in the permanent migration cap to the federal government.
With the increasing gap in the workforce in various businesses, many called for a permanent migration boost in the country so that migrant workers can quickly fill the workforce without worrying about ending their visa period and renewal of the visa.
Business Council of Australia (BCA), in its submission, called for a post-pandemic migration “reset” to the government’s review of the immigration system recently as per reports.
The BCA urged the Labor government to increase the migration cap and annual migrant intake for the following two years to fill the gap quickly. They want to increase the migrant intake by 220,000, with 70 per cent of places reserved for skilled workers.
The new government, in 2022, announced to increase in the cap by 195,000 places which was 160,000 earlier. The increase addressed the country's labour shortages, specifically in IT and healthcare professions.
The BCA, on the other hand, wants a bigger increase in the number and said that more migrants are required for the significant economic and social boon to fill skills gaps. Also, it will help in offset Australia’s ageing population.
The submission stated that the country should focus on the reset of migration. This will help Australia attract migrants back to Australia to tackle workforce gaps and also helps set Australia as a high-productivity, high-skill and high-wage frontier economy.
For long-term planning, the federal government should think about setting Australia’s permanent migration intake at a percentage of the total population over the long term.
In addition to this, the higher-ups also mentioned that employers must be authorized to bring any skilled foreign worker for jobs with a salary above the national average.
The wide-ranging immigration review, established by Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil in November 2022, is anticipated to submit its reports and recommendations for change ahead of May’s federal budget.
