A recent report by Grattan Institute has recommended an overhaul of the Australian visa system.
Vivek Asri
The report titled ‘Rethinking permanent skilled migration after the pandemic’ says that Australia should unashamedly select permanent skilled migrants for their long-term economic potential when we reopen the borders.
The report written by Brendan Coates, Henry Sherrell and Will Mackey states, “The Federal Government has recently moved policy in the wrong direction by shifting the composition of the permanent skilled intake towards older, less-skilled migrants.”
“As a result, more than one-in-four permanent skilled visas are now allocated to boosting business investment and to the unproven Global Talent program. These changes should be reversed because they have reduced the lifetime fiscal dividend from each annual intake of permanent skilled migrants by at least $2 billion.”
Watch an analysis of the changes expected:
Recommendations
The writers of this report have recommended abolishing the Business Investment and Innovation Program and boosting the number of skilled worker visas to supercharge the economic benefits of Australia’s skilled migration program.
The authors estimate that these changes would result in nearly $4 billion in extra personal income tax receipts alone over the lifetime of each yearly migrant intake.
“Other reforms, including making employer-sponsorship available for workers in all occupations provided they earn above median full-time earnings of $80,000 a year, would better target visas to people with the most valuable skills and simplify the sponsorship process for firms and migrants. And it could boost the fiscal dividends by at least another $9 billion from each yearly intake,” it says.
The authors make six significant recommendations:
Recommendation 1
Abolish the Business Investment and Innovation visa program.
Recommendation 2
Scale back and independently evaluate the Global Talent visa program.
Recommendation 3
Avoid targeting permanent skilled worker visas at temporary skills shortages via occupation lists.
Recommendation 4
Make employer-sponsored visas available for workers in all occupations, provided they earn at least $80,000 a year.
Recommendation 5
Commission an independent review of Points-tested visas in order to better select younger, skilled migrants.
Recommendation 6
Require the Department of Home Affairs to improve the administration of permanent skilled worker visas and accelerate processing times.
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