Australia has always been a great place for international students and people who want to migrate there permanently. The Government of Australia provides amazing career opportunities and other benefits to its permanent residents. Though, due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the migration process has really been affected in Australia. People can’t travel due to the ban and closure of the international borders of Australia. The travel restrictions in Australia have affected the Australian economy and travel business badly. However, the Grattan Institute in Australia has given a design of recommendations to the Australian Government about improving its Future Immigration Policy of Australia.
Further, there’re many other independent institutions in Australia that give recommendations to the Australian Government related to health, economic, immigration and other policies. These institutes play a vital role in the Future Immigration Policy of Australia – making of the Australian Government. As the Government of Australia considers, concentrates and even implements those recommendations in their policies.
Report by Grattan Institute
Grattan is an independent institute in Australia that has prepared research and presented six recommendations to improve the migration policies in Australia. This report is named ‘Rethinking Permanent Skilled Migration after the Pandemic’.
The report discusses the situation of Australia before and after the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Grattan Institute has provided recommendations that can benefit the economy of Australia for a long time.
Australia is a great destination for migration and provides amazing facilities to skilled migrants. Australian immigration is popular all around the world. The Government of Australia considers highly professional and skilled people to migrate to Australia. However, the Grattan Institute in Australia has provided some recommendations to the Australian Government to improve the migration policies.
Recommendations by Grattan Institute
The Grattan Institute in Australia has presented 2 to six recommendations to the Government of Australia. The main purpose of these recommendations is to boost the economy of Australia and make a pathway to permanent residency for skilled migrants.
Abolish the Business Investment and Innovation Visa Program
The Business Investment and Innovation Visa Programs are generally provisional or temporary visas. These visas allow people to stay in Australia for 4 years and 3 months. The investors with these visas can come to Australia according to the points-based system and create sales in their business within their stay period in Australia.
Australia has a medium-sized economy that has strong connections with capital markets. The Grattan Institute has suggested the Govt. focus on the young and skillful migrants. As the young migrants will help to maximize the financial gains and bring innovation to the country.
Investors who come to Australia are aged between 40 to 50 years and have poor English language skills. The problem is that they can’t provide long-term benefits to Australia.
Therefore, Grattan has recommended the Australian Government abolish the Business Investment and Innovation Visa Program. The report has stated that the government must consider the young migrants aged between 25 to 30 years. As they’re more talented and have more skills than old-aged investors. The main purpose of this recommendation is to prefer the young and skilled people over the aged investors.
Scale Back and Independently Evaluate the Global Talent Visa Program (GTI)
According to the report by Grattan Institute, the Australian Government has offered 5,000 seats last year and 15,000 seats this year to international investors in its Global Talent Visa Program (GTI). The report has focused on the matter that how these aged professional investors can bring long-term economic benefits to Australia. Moreover, their concern is that for how long they can pay taxes in Australia.
Therefore, the Grattan Institute has suggested to the Australian Government to evaluate the skills and eligibility of applicants. The report says that the Government of Australia shouldn’t the Global Talent Visa (GTI) visa to any applicant without evaluating or analyzing his case. As the GTI program aims to provide permanent residency to people in Australia so the Grattan Institute has recommended a proper assessment before offering the GTI Visa.
Avoid Targeting Permanent Skilled Worker Visas at Temporary Skilled Shortage via Skilled Occupation List
The report by Grattan Institute has suggested the Australian Government not focus only on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL). There’re many occupations in the SOL which have no ANZSCO Code in Australia. For instance, the occupation of Data Scientist is one of the famous occupations, however, it has no ANZSCO Code in Australia.
Likewise, there are many other occupations that are on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) but not mentioned in the ANZSCO Code. Hence, the Grattan Institute has recommended the Australian Government update and improve future immigration policy of Australia and focus on evaluating the skills of applicants instead of the Skilled Occupation List (SOL).
Make Employer-Sponsored Visa Available for Workers in All Occupations Provided They Earn At least $80,000 a Year
This recommendation is a great opportunity for people who want to stay in Australia for a long period. As the Employer Nominated Visas has two subclasses which are 482 and 494. Subclass 482 consists of a Short-term Skill List and a Medium or Long-term Skill list. However, the Short-term Skill List can’t lead to permanent residency in Australia.
According to the Grattan immigration report, the Employer-Sponsored Visa must be granted to employees earning $80,000 in any occupation.
The report suggested the Australian Government target migrants with high and valuable skills. Moreover, the Govt. should simplify the employer sponsorship process for Australian migrants.
Commission an Independent Review of Points-tested Visas in order to Better Select Younger, Skilled Migrants
The Grattan Institute has recommended the Australian Government review its Points-tested visa process for better outcomes to select the migrants. According to the report by Grattan, young migrants with higher skills should be the priority for Permanent Skilled-Worker Visas. As people at a young age tend to earn higher incomes and can benefit the Australian community in the long term.
Grattan has stated in its report that the points-tested visa process consists of the requirement of extra points in the regional and domestic study. These requirements may seem helpful to the Australia Government for choosing skilled migrants for Australia. However, they’re not going to benefit anyway.
Furthermore, Grattan Institute has recommended the Australian government replace the Occupations List for Points-tested visas and with some education policies. For instance, the government can make a policy that only bachelor degree holders will be eligible for the points-tested process. Eventually, people with higher points will be shortlisted for the further process of migration to Australia.
Require the Department of Home Affairs to Improve the Administration of Permanent Skilled Worker Visas and Accelerate Processing Times
Grattan has recommended the Government of Australia accelerate the Employer-sponsored visa grant process. As it has been reported that more than 75% of employer-sponsored visa applications take to 13 months to be finalized. Whereas, the applications for Global Talent take barely take two and a half months to get processed.
The Skilled-Worker Visas are issued through the Points-tested process or Employer-Sponsored Program. Therefore, Grattan Institute has suggested the Australian Government expand its monetary policy by at least $9 billion from each annual cohort.
Conclusion
The Grattan is one of the independent institutes in Australia that has provided a pattern of recommendations to improve the Future Immigration Policy of Australia. These recommendations aim to bring young and skilled people to Australia and provide them the opportunity to get permanent residency in Australia.
The design of six recommendations offered by the Grattan Institute in Australia has been circulating all over the country and became a highlight of many debates. However, it depends on the Government of Australia to consider and put these recommendations into action to bring a positive change to its policymaking.
For more information regarding the immigration process and its policies in Australia:
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I’m Nasir Nawaz. I’m a registered migration consultant in Australia. I am based in Sydney. I’ve studied Master of Laws at the University of New South Wales. I’m providing immigration services for several years.
Consult with me for legal advice on Australian visas to permanently live, study, and work in Australia.
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Nasir Nawazhttps://themigration.com.au/staging/author/ehsanthemigration-com-au/
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Nasir Nawazhttps://themigration.com.au/staging/author/ehsanthemigration-com-au/
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Nasir Nawazhttps://themigration.com.au/staging/author/ehsanthemigration-com-au/
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Nasir Nawazhttps://themigration.com.au/staging/author/ehsanthemigration-com-au/
