Yesterday, at a public event, the Minister for Immigration — in addition to revealing news about next financial year’s PR quota (read here:Minister Reveals: Skilled PR Quota Could Return to Two-Thirds Next Financial Year!? State Nomination Quota Increases — Core Logic Analysis!) — also stated thatif the Coalition wins re-election in the May federal election, his first post-election priority would be to review the migration occupation list and add more occupations to the MLTSSL.
And today’s unemployment figures are also in:Australia’s overall unemployment rate for February 2022 fell 0.2 percentage points to4%, the lowest level since August 2008.Employment numbers have also grown for four consecutive months, with approximately 77,000 new jobs added in a single month.
This is clearly connected to the post-COVIDnationwide labour shortage across Australiaand the same Australia-wide labour crunch has driven exceptional interest inemployer-sponsored migration,with interest at an especially high level and related applications now among the highest processing priorities at the Department of Home Affairs.
Various temporary visa extensions and temporary full-time work authorisations are primarily aimed at filling entry-level positions — these are stopgap measures,whereas employer-sponsored migration offers a far morecomprehensive, systematic, and enduringsolution to businesses’ core challenge of sourcing mid-to-senior skilled talent.
Once the government gets through this busy period, don’t be surprised if news about employer-sponsored migration reforms starts flooding in.
The renowned think tank Grattan Institute has also turned its attention to employer-sponsored migration —
when someone hands you a76-page research and recommendations report,they’re probably quite dissatisfied with how things currently work.Grattan Institute has put forward a total of11recommendations— not many in number, but each carries considerable weight— here are the key highlights:
Recommendation 1:Employer sponsorship should be open to all temporary skilled migrants with high-paying jobs
Recommendation 2:Create a new Temporary Skilled Worker (TSW) visa, using the same employer-sponsored model as the current TSS (Skills in Demand) visa
Recommendation 3:All positions with an annual salary above AUD 70,000 would be eligible for the TSW visa (removing occupation restrictions while raising the salary threshold)
Recommendation 4:Improve visa portability — TSW holders would be free to change employers; and if a TSW holder loses their job, they may remain in Australia for up to 90 days
Recommendation 5:Replace all upfront costs with a AUD 1,000 nomination fee, plus a ‘monthly levy’ based on the number of sponsored workers
Recommendation 6:An English language exemption for positions with an annual salary above AUD 120,000
Recommendation 7:Official accreditation for employers who sponsor high-earning skilled workers, with priority benefits such as visa processing within five business days
Recommendation 8:Abolish labour market testing
Recommendation 9:A clear pathway to permanent residency for TSW visa holders earning more than AUD 80,000 per year
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Grattan InstituteThe report also presents considerableemployer sponsorship datanot officially released by the Department of Home Affairs, focusing primarily on temporary visa holders.
In most industries, temporary employer-sponsored visa holders account for less than 1% of the total workforce
(though this data appears to be from 2016 — possibly a little dated)
Temporary employer-sponsored visas represent only a tiny slice of all temporary visas in Australia
(data as at 2020)
Temporary employer-sponsored visa holders are heavily concentrated in a small number of occupations,despite hundreds of occupations being eligible. Recognise any of these occupations?Software and Applications Programmers stand out far ahead, while Accountants, Marketing roles, Head Chefs, Cooks, Motor Mechanics, and Cafe and Restaurant Managers all feature at roughly the same level
(data as at 2019)
The majority of temporary employer-sponsored visa holders have no trouble making a direct transition to PR
(FY 2019–20 data)
Salary comparison: Australian citizens vs temporary employer-sponsored visa holders in the same industry
(2016 data)
Processing priority for employer sponsorship applications is currently very high,Grattan Institutethough the report also flags the significant variation across application types (compare Subclass 491/190/189/489/887…)
There is also some indirect data — the chart below illustrates why the Australian Government was so eager to see the return of international students, Subclass 485 holders, and working holiday visa (WHV) holders from late last year into early this year
(data from Q3 2019 to early 2022)
All said, as a recommendations report,the Grattan Institute certainly makes its stance very clear,though it must also be noted that some of the data is quite dated —pre-dating the March 2018 reform round.
The report does raise some idealistic points:
For instance, it argues that focusing on highly skilled, high-earning talent can bring Australia various economic benefits.However, trade and technical roles are genuinely very short-staffed and may actually need overseas workers even more urgently;
For example, the report argues that employer-sponsored migration delivers better employment outcomes than state nomination or Subclass 189.Yet employer-sponsored visa holders are also heavily concentrated in a few major cities;
And on raising the salary threshold to AUD 70,000 as a way to reduce exploitation —this would also give employers more reason to hesitate about offering sponsorship.
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Past Articles
Minister Reveals: Skilled PR Quota Could Return to Two-Thirds Next Financial Year!?
Minister Reveals: Skilled PR Quota Could Return to Two-Thirds Next Financial Year!?
Victoria Still Has Quota, But IT and Other Fields Are Receiving Refusals!?
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