Australian new migration policies target skilled workforce

Australian new migration policies target skilled workforce

Riding on an ambitious plan to tap Asian region, Australia is all set to woo highly skilled population from Asia, in a bid to create an educated, productive work force to boost its economy.

According to Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen, the government in its 'Asian Century White Paper' released on Sunday, has highlighted the opportunities for the nation's growth by building deeper and stronger links with Asian region.

"Even with the government's unprecedented investment in tertiary education and upgrading Australians' skills, we need migrants who bring their specialist skills to Australia," he said.

Seven of the top 10 source countries in Australia's 2011-12 migration programme are in the Asian region: India, China, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Korea and Vietnam.





New post-study work rights for international students should be extended to the VET sector to help maintain Australia's booming tertiary education sector, NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said on Friday

From next year the Commonwealth is introducing new post-study work visa arrangements for graduates who have completed a bachelor, masters or doctoral degree. The new arrangement will provide graduating students with access to post-study work rights for two, three or four years respectively. This will see a welcome increase in the length of post-study work visa for bachelor, master’s and doctoral students by one year in most cases.

To facilitate this, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship is expanding its network of service and delivery partners to support online visa lodgment, multiple entry visas and longer visa validity periods.

Students from abroad boost Australia's economy by billions every year. In 2011, there were more than 550,000 international student enrolments (77 percent from within the Asian region) in Australian education institutions.

Thousands of overseas workers get jobs via Australia’s new SkillSelect programme

Australia’s new SkillSelect system for matching skilled overseas workers with jobs in the country is proving popular, according to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). Since SkillSelect was introduced in July 2012 more than 3,500 people have been invited to apply for a visa through SkillSelect. In the middle of October, a further 1,000 invitations will be issued plus state and territory invitations.

‘The department is moving quickly to secure significant numbers of skilled migrants through SkillSelect,’ said Krun Kukoc, first assistant secretary of the migration and visa policy division. Employers can access SkillSelect online to find suitable overseas skilled workers to fill vacancies that cannot be filled from within the Australian labour market.

‘Employers can contact suitable skilled workers through the SkillSelect system to discuss nomination and employment. They can also find skilled workers outside of SkillSelect and nominate them directly,’ said Kukoc.  ‘A client who has submitted an EOI needs to be invited to apply for a visa. SkillSelect is a competitive process and there are no guarantees that an invitation will be issued,’ he said.

 ‘Clients can apply at any time, but they must meet the minimum requirements for the stream for which they can apply. Subclass 457 visa holders who want to apply within two years of their visa being granted would be able to apply for permanent residence through the direct entry stream of the Employer Nomination Scheme or Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme,’ said Kukoc.

‘They would need to have an employer willing to nominate them in a skilled occupation on a full time basis for at least two years,’ he added.

New South Wales boosts its sponsored visa programme

New South Wales in Australia has increased the number of occupations which qualify for state sponsored visas and it is also seeking more business migrants. There were previously only a few occupations in New South Wales’s State’s Migration Plan in order to be eligible for a state sponsored Australia visa most of which were highly skilled jobs such as accountancy, biomedical engineering and architecture.

The new plan covers a large number of medical and health care jobs including optometrist, osteopath, dentist, podiatrist, cardiologist, paediatrician, surgeon, urologist, pathologist, radiologist, nurse practioners, intensive care specialist and audiologist.

There are also an increased number of trades including in the new list such as electrician, mechanic, carpenter, bricklayer, plasterer, plumber, sheet metal workers, metal machinist, pressure welder, metal fabricator, fitter and car electrician.

The state government is seeking highly skilled business people, professionals and trades people to live and work in Sydney and the rest of the region. A spokesman said that over the past 12 months the state has supported almost 300 business migrants to Sydney and New South Wales and 1,200 skilled migrants to the region and 120 skilled migrants to settle in Sydney.

The state manages the intake of business migrants under the Business Skills Migration programme which is designed to encourage successful business people to settle permanently in the state. Most of these migrants enter initially on a provisional visa for four years and are able to apply for permanent residence after showing evidence of their business and/or investment activity.