Mixed views on federal migration strategy

The federal government’s revised migration strategy that would cap the number of incoming migrants has drawn both praise and criticism from industry groups.

Released on Monday, the strategy is the federal government’s bid to reform and bring migration back to sustainable levels.

Federal Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the reformed strategy was designed to tackle worker exploitation and protect wages and conditions for migrants.

The federal government’s new commitments include increasing English language requirements for migrants, designating visa processing to regional Australia the highest priority, a specialist skills pathway, a new four-year visa, and a reduced intake estimate.

The country’s intake of migrants is estimated to drop from 500,000 to 250,000 by 2025.

Tourism Council WA today lashed the government’s reform for backpacker visas to be limited to one year.

Working Holiday Maker visa holders wanting to stay in Australia for a second year will have their visa evaluated for the “88-day, 179-day and specified work requirement”.

Tourism Council WA chief executive Evan Hall said most backpackers who start on the east coast would not make it to Western Australia on a one-year visa.

“Backpackers are first and foremost tourists, who work as they travel so they can afford to stay longer and travel wider in Australia,” he said.

“A one-year cap would limit backpackers’ ability to travel to WA and work across seasonal tourism towns such as Exmouth, Broome and Margaret River.

“We are still down 40 per cent on international visitors compared to pre-COVID - we cannot afford to turn away international backpackers as well.

“Capping backpackers to Exmouth during whale shark season does nothing to help manage Melbourne and Sydney’s population problems.”

Mr Hall said WA was more reliant on backpacker workforce than other states.

“There is a concern that there won’t be enough backpackers remaining to service visitors in regional WA during peak periods,” he said.

“Backpackers are essential to WA’s tourism workforce, as they are keen to move to WA tourism towns in peak seasons to work and experience what WA has to offer.

“They fill vacancies, serve Western Australians turning up for a holiday and provide respite to operators who would otherwise work for months on end without a break.”

Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia has called the new migration strategy “highly problematic” because of the broad and inaccurate generalisations about quality.

“The language in the migration strategy is reckless and ignores the high-quality skills training outcomes that the majority of international students in Australia receive,” ITECA chief executive Troy Williams said.

“It’s in this context that ITECA believes the language in the migration strategy concerning quality in the international skills training sector is unhelpful and paints an inaccurate picture of the sector as a whole. 

“There is a real risk that it will diminish Australia’s reputation as a high-quality provider of skills training to international students.

“The fact that the Australian Government has not ruled out placing a cap on the number of international students able to come into Australia is of concern.”

Mr Williams said ITECA has also advised the Immigration Minister on irregularities in the visa processing system.

“While we broadly welcome the direction of the reforms set out in the Strategy, the ITECA membership has concerns that the Australian Government’s response will be disproportionate to the risks that may exist,” he said.

Specialist pathway feedback

Despite the criticisms, the migration strategy has also been welcomed by other bodies including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said the strategy marked a pivotal shift towards sustainable growth, employment creation and innovation in the business landscape.

“The creation of a new three-tiered temporary skills pathway will assist employers as they attempt to navigate our currently complex system,” he said.

“The introduction of service guarantees on visa pathways that target elite talent will help Australia attract highly skilled migrants in sectors like the resources sector, technology, and financial services.

“Business applauds proposed measures to reduce complexity in the system and ensure visa processing times are further expedited.

“The creation of a specialist skills pathway for jobs that pay above $135,000 with a seven-day visa processing time will allow us to compete globally for the best and brightest.

“It is however unfortunate that the specialist skills pathway excludes tradespeople from accessing this category – they will be able to come into the country only through the core skills pathway.

“The announcement of a pathway to permanency for temporary skilled migrants is something that ACCI has been calling for.”

Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) chief executive Melinda Cilento has also backed the three-tiered approach to temporary migration through the specialist skills pathway.

“The Specialist Skills pathway with a wage threshold of $135,000 is a crucial element of this and something we have long been calling for,” she said.

“We continue to believe the government should work towards creating an essential skills visa focused on workers in the care sector.

“We look forward to working with the Government on this element of the temporary program, recognising the importance of getting the framework and regulations right, as migration will need to play a role in addressing long-term skills shortages in the care sectors.

“Right now, it’s clear the Government’s aged-care labour agreements aren’t working. They are costly, onerous and proving hard to implement.”

Business Council of Australia chief executive Bran Black said the strategy included better long-term permanent migration planning that would enable better connection with housing and infrastructure.

"We strongly endorse the commitment to move to long-term planning of the permanent migration intake and linking that with the states and territories and their housing and infrastructure planning," he said.

"The new tiered approach to temporary skilled migration is another key change, removing the out-of-date and inflexible occupation lists and replacing it with a new specialist skills pathway at a threshold of $135,000."