-April saw a significant jump on March, and that momentum continued into May
Compared with February and October last year (before borders began gradually reopening), the growth is very encouraging,though there remains a substantial gap before pre-pandemic levels are reached,In January 2020 (before COVID-19 spread globally), Australia recorded 2.26 million overseas arrivals in a single month.
And if you look closely at the data broken down by traveller category,you can see that recovery for migrants and long-stay temporary visa holders still has some way to go —
A gradual recovery following the border reopening was always expected. After all, international travel depends not only on open-or-closed border policy, but also on flight availability and conditions in other countries. The industry’s concern is that slow visa processing could delay this gradual recovery — possibly preventing a return to expected levels even by next year.
Abul RizviReports suggest the Department of Home Affairs has managed to raise funds to address the current resource shortfall, but this will come at a cost over the coming years,“Because the budget cuts ran for two years and then funding is increased again, it tells me that what may be happening is that the Department of Home Affairs has been borrowing from the future to handle all sorts of processing matters — but next year and the year after they will have to ‘repay’ that money.””
In other words, without fundamentally increasing the overall budget envelope, it may simply be a case of using future money to plug today’s holes — but then who fills the holes of the future?
Internal staff dissatisfied — mismanagement has built up for years
Among Australian Public Service agencies with more than 1,000 staff, morale at the Department of Home Affairs is the lowest of all,with fewer than half of employees saying they would recommend the Department as a good place to work.“A lot of unhappy people are buried under a mountain of backlogged work, and budget cuts will only make more people unhappy.”
It is expected that in October this year Labor will release a 2022–23 Budget that differs from the one set by the previous Coalition Government. The Treasurer has already signalled there will be no large cost-of-living supplements, given that the outgoing Coalition left behind an unprecedented $1 trillion in debt.
If the visabacklog and processing delayshad only just emerged as a problem, or if only a few visa categories were slow, under the pressure ofAustralia’s border reopening with every sector — from clients to employees — desperately in need, it might not have so quickly become an issue that the entire country is focused on,the calls, appeals, complaints and pleas around visa processing have never been this concentrated.Regardless,the blame has now been firmly placed at the feet of the Labor Government.
A clear commitment: priority and urgency
It is no exaggeration to say that this is the first priority for new Minister Andrew Giles since taking office.
Not long ago he stated he had already directed his department to treat the visa processing backlog as its top priority. In his latest interview he reiterated:
“In terms of the abnormal delays we are seeing in visa processing, this is a genuine priority for me and the Albanese Labor Government — whether it relates to humanitarian, family reunification or skilled visas, we need to do better.”
The previous Coalition Government had devalued migration, causing our visa processing to fall into gridlock and holding us back. Unlike them, Labor has been listening to stakeholders,committed to making clearing the backlog a genuine priority. He is seeking advice on addressing the challenges the Department has designated as requiring ‘urgent action’.
The Department’s website processing times — which should have been updated in early June — still have not beenupdated,but from late May to now there has been a slight improvement in processing, with some long-waiting applications finally seeing movement. Hopefully the update, when it comes, will bring some pleasant surprises.
This week — Feifan English information
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