Deputy Secretary Peter Vardos, in his keynote speech during the MIA Conference held on 16 September 2011 at the Holiday Inn, Surfers Paradise, Golf Coast, provided an overview of the Transformation Program of the Immigration Programs of the department.
Migrants bring benefits to Australia by increasing or at least maintaining the size of the labour force and adding to per-capita GDP. They supplement the labour force in key areas where skill shortages exist. They also offset the impact of an ageing workforce.
The immigration department has adopted reform measures to address challenges in the immigration programs which are shared by the government and the migration advice profession
The immigration department has adopted reform measures to address challenges in the government and the migration advice profession:
In the mid to late 1980’s, the focus of migration was 70% on family reunion and 30 % on skilled migration. Now it is the reverse, 30% family reunion and 70% skilled migration.
The migration program of Australia focuses on demand for job growth in particular areas. At present there is a decline in retail and manufacturing and an increase in mining and construction . This job growth is addressed by providing an additional 12 000 skill migration places this year.
In the Skill Stream, 46 000 places are allocated to the employer-sponsored category and within that 16 000 are being dedicated to the regional migration scheme.
Australia’s migration programs are balanced to ensure there are also social gains through the diversity of Australia’s population in a socially cohesive manner.
Many social and cultural temporary entry programs are facilitating the entry of people who contribute to Australia’s social and cultural wellbeing through taking part in a range of sports, entertainment, academic and cultural activities.
Reforms also helped ensure that the prolonged stay of temporary migrants in Australia is subject to the availability of genuine skilled vacancies in the Australian labour market or availability of places in Australia’s permanent migration program.
457 Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa reforms
Reforms to this program have ensured that it delivers the skills needed in the economy in the immediate term, and at the same time, prevent the abuse of workers on this visa and safeguard the rights of Australian workers.
There is a new 457 visa processing centre in Brisbane to facilitate visa processing time to help employers and businesses quickly access skilled labour when they need it.
Skill migration reforms
ENS/Business Skills Review
The department is currently reviewing the permanent Employer Nomination Scheme with an aim to streamline arrangements between the temporary subclass 457 visa program and the permanent visa program.
Enterprise Migration Agreements
Enterprise Migration Agreements or EMAs are a labour agreement arrangement for the resources sector which will help streamlining access to workers for ‘mega’ resources projects with capital expenditure of more than two billion dollars and a peak workforce of more than 1500 workers
Points Test
A new Points Test, which emphasises the importance of English, work experience and high level qualifications, was implemented on 1 July this year. This ensures that the best and the brightest skilled migrants are selected.
SkillSelect
SkillSelect is a new skilled migrant selection register which will capitalise on the point test system and will ensure the selection of the best and brightest skilled migrants from a pool of prospective migrants starting 1 July 2012.
Migration Professionals
The department recognises the value of the role of migration professionals in the smooth administration of the immigration system.They provide quality advice to consumers and they lodge well constructed, complete and quality visa applications to the department.
These migration initiatives and reform measures have, and will continue to ensure that Australia’s immigration programs are competitive, selective and well-managed to maximise the benefits for Australia and its people.
To view and download the report in full, please visit www.allskills.com.au.
For a FREE CONSULTATION and FREE enrolment assistance for International students contact Felix Carao MARN 1069354 of ALLSKILLS MIGRATION CONSULTANCY AUSTRALIA at 0412321187 or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
