Migration reforms aim to deliver Australia’s skills needs

The reforms will deliver a demand rather than a supply driven skilled migration program that meets the needs of the economy in sectors and regions where there are shortages of highly skilled workers, such as healthcare, engineering and mining.
The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) welcomed the government’s focus on the development of state migration plans, as part of the reforms.
CME chief executive Reg Howard-Smith said the proposal to focus on the development of a state migration plan is necessary to strengthen the Western Australian resources industry’s ability to meet projected workforce shortfalls.
“CME has been advocating for a state migration plan for some time and has been discussing with the State Government a collaborative approach to enable this to occur.
“The establishment of a targeted skills list which reflects the unique labour demand needs of specific states is essential,” he said.
According to scenarios developed by CME as part of their Growth Outlook Study, an additional 38,000 skilled workers will be required by 2012 to meet the needs of the Western Australian resources industry. Howard-Smith said permanent and temporary migration programs will be required to fill some of these positions.
The major reforms to the skilled migration program would include the cancellation of 20,000 applications from would-be migrants, who will receive a refund.
All offshore General Skilled Migration applications lodged before September 1st, 2007 will have their applications withdrawn. These are people who applied overseas under easier standards, including lower English language skills and a less rigorous work experience requirement.
The list of occupations in demand will be tightened so only highly skilled migrants will be eligible to apply for independent skilled migration visas.
The wide-ranging Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) will be revoked immediately. The list is outdated and contains 106 occupations, many of which are less-skilled and no longer in demand. A new and more targeted Skilled Occupations List (SOL) will be developed by the independent body, Skills Australia, and reviewed annually. It will be introduced mid-year and focus on high value professions and trades.
The Critical Skills List introduced at the beginning of 2009 which identified occupations in critical demand at the height of the global financial crisis will also be phased out.
The points test used to assess migrants will be reviewed to ensure it selects the best and brightest.
Individual state and territory migration plans will be developed so they can prioritise skilled migrants of their own choosing. This recognises that each state and territory has different skills requirements. For example, Western Australia may have a shortage of mining engineers while Victoria may have a requirement for more architects. Under the new priority processing arrangements, migrants nominated by a state and territory government under their State Migration Plan will be processed ahead of applications for independent skilled migration.