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Skilled Migration: Future Direction and Expected Changes
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| Author: |
Alan Collett |
| Date: |
Saturday, May 29, 2010 |
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Australia's Immigration Minister and his delegates appeared before a Senate Committee this week, and made several points of note relating to the skilled migration program.
As many will know from previous articles on Go Matilda News, at present the skilled migration program is temporarily suspended while a new list of skilled occupations, or SOL, is being introduced.
The following comments from the appearance of the Minister and his delegates before the Senate Committee provide some useful clarity on what we can anticipate in the near future:
* " .... just so that you are clear, the new SOL, which we accepted on the recommendations of Skills Australia for the new test, will apply from 1 July."
* "The intention is that, when the Minister formally puts into effect the points test with the legislative instrument, that instrument will also include the points and the relevant assessing authority that will be assessing people’s qualifications against each one of those occupations."
* "The regulations that underpin the skilled occupation lists are due to be considered by the Executive Council on, I think, about 15 June. We would expect that, all going well, the new list would be published within days of that."
* "The proposal is that we would not be changing weightings. Most of the occupations on the new skilled occupation list were represented, at least at an aggregate level, on the old skilled occupation lists. If something was a 60-point occupation under the old list, we would not be proposing to change that under the new list."
* " ... the points that were allocated before will be allocated on the new list."
* A review of the points test itself is occurring. But from 1 July effectively the old points test or the current points test will be replicated against the new SOL."
The Immigration Minister has also flagged legislation that will make available to him the ability to more closely manage the general skilled migration program. Again, here is a comment from the Immigration Minister at this week's Senate Hearing:
" ...there are a lot of arguments around the appropriateness of the current points allocations. But what is the case is that once people pass the pass mark they are then queued in order of application, and that is one of the things that I think are fundamentally wrong with the system. As I have announced, we are looking at that issue. Fundamentally, if I have 10,000 cooks in front of the doctor, I should be taking those 10,000 cooks before I process the doctor. That is the current system and it has been the system up until now. That is why I brought in the critical skills list. If you asked me whether that was a good way for Australia to do business, I would say absolutely not. So we are about reforming that process that allows us to take the skills we need, and part of that process is the abolition of the MODL and the introduction of the SOL. But part of it is the points test review and our selection methodology. Those, if you like, are the next two stages in the reform process."
This has been confirmed following the presentation of a Bill in the Australian Federal Parliament this week. This Bill will - if passed - provide additional powers for the Immigration Minister to manage skilled visa applications by what is called "capping and ceasing".
The Migration Amendment (Visa Capping) Bill 2010 seeks to amend the Migration Act 1958 to enable the Minister for Immigration to cap visa grants and terminate visa applications based on the class or classes of applicant applying for the visa.
In particular, the Bill would enable the Minister to make a legislative instrument to determine the maximum number of visas of a specified class or classes that may be granted in a financial year to visa applicants with specified characteristics, and treat outstanding applications for the capped visa as never having been made.
We anticipate that the changes in the Visa Capping Bill will encounter strong opposition and adverse comment from many who have applied for the grant of an Australian skilled visa in good faith, a large number of whom applied for the grant of a skilled visa long ago.
Comment
We see both good and bad aspects to the announcements and commentary of this week. The good news is that skilled individuals with occupations on the new list of skilled occupations and who have incurred costs progressing pre visa application skills assessments can be reasonably comfortable that a skilled visa pathway will continue to be available, with a visa application capable of being lodged from the start of July, 2010.
By contrast, those who have an occupation that does not appear on the new SOL are likely to be in a more vulnerable position - unless their occupation appears on a State Migration Plan.
Keep a watch on Go Matilda News for more information as soon as it becomes available.
Go Matilda is an experienced and professional migration consultancy, and its consultants have many years of experience, having helped thousands of families move to Australia.
If you are an intending skilled migrant and would like to discuss your skilled visa options please contact us for a free initial discussion.
The Hansard material which confirms the above extracts is available via the weblink below; the above comments are taken from pages 60 and 61.
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| Weblink: |
http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S13015.pdf |
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