Today, the Federal Parliament’s Senate website released the meeting transcript documents for the 2021–2022 Budget Estimates, including the transcripts from last week’s two-day hearing on the 24th and 25th, which questioned the Department of Home Affairs and the immigration authorities. Budget Estimates hearings are typically held by a dedicated parliamentary committee within a few weeks of the budget being handed down, calling on the heads of various portfolios to explain how specific budget-related decisions were made. Naturally, what we care about most is the questions relating to the Department of Home Affairs’ immigration programs — particularly the migration quota issues tied to the budget.
It’s no longer news that the migration cap will stay at 160,000 for the new financial year — what everyone’s more interested in is how it’s broken down by stream. Earlier, right after the budget was handed down, the immigration department’s response to various agents was that the breakdown for each stream next financial year (including skilled and family) would stay the same as this financial year. However, over the past few weeks, many industry associations, companies, and independent research bodies have reported recruitment difficulties amid serious skills shortages. In the hearing transcript just released, the immigration department has adjusted the ratios within the skilled migration stream.
First off, many of you have asked whether this is truly final, or whether it could still change. In principle, the immigration department can make changes at any time before it formally announces the specific figures in July 2021 for the new financial year. However, since it was the First Assistant Secretary responsible for the immigration program (Mr Michael Willard, First Assistant Secretary, Immigration Programs) who put this data on the record — and did so in the formal setting of a Senate committee — the likelihood of further changes should be relatively low.
So what exactly did he say? Here are his exact words:
Mr Willard: Employer-sponsored will increase to 23,500, skilled independent migration (189) will increase to 7,500, regional state nomination (491) will increase to 13,150, and other state nomination (190) will increase to 13,150. Investor migration will decrease to 11,000, the Global Talent Independent program (GTI) will decrease to 11,000, and Distinguished Talent places will increase to 350.
The detailed breakdown, compared with this financial year, is as follows:
State nomination will clearly remain the mainstay of skilled migration in the new financial year — both streams (491 and 190) have each increased by 1,950 places, up 17%, for a combined total of 26,300 places.
The 189 skilled independent visa has only increased by 1,000 places to 7,500 — against the enormous backlog of applications, and the relaxed requirements for the New Zealand stream, this is little more than a drop in the ocean.
For popular fields of study, especially accounting and IT, everyone should keep a close eye on each state’s state nomination policy changes and announcements for the new financial year, and act on whatever opportunities arise sooner rather than later, instead of continuing to wait it out for a 189. For example, this financial year NSW’s 190 has continued to invite high-scoring IT applicants, while accounting applicants have gone via the Queensland small business stream, among other pathways.
As for family migration, the Deputy Secretary of the immigration department Mr Andrew Kefford PSMstated that the new financial year will be entirely consistent with this financial year — that is, partner migration will continue at 72,300 places, parent migration at 4,500 places, and other family migration at 500 places.
In addition, at this hearing, immigration department officials also released the number of visa grants for each visa category up to 20 May 2021, as follows:
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