The Australian Government announces New Immigration Strategy
The Australian Government has unveiled its new Immigration Strategy, outlining plans to optimize the immigration system. With 5 objectives and 8 key tasks to be accomplished over the next 10 years, the aim is to build a prosperous and secure Australia.
On December 11th, the Australian Government announced the highly anticipated Immigration Strategy, charting a new vision for Australia’s immigration system. The government acknowledges the need for significant reforms in the Australian immigration system over the next 10 years.
The policy roadmap includes 5 objectives, 8 key tasks, over 25 commitments, and identifies areas requiring reform in the future. This Immigration Strategy aims to return immigration levels to a “sustainable” level (nearly pre-Covid-19 levels) in the upcoming fiscal year and ensure immigration programs are aligned with the current and future economic landscape.
5 Objectives of the Immigration Strategy:
- Enhance the standard of living for Australians by increasing labor productivity, addressing skill shortages, and supporting export activities.
- Ensure fairness in the workplace by supplementing employment, wages, and ensuring working conditions, and preventing exploitation of immigrant workers.
- Build a strong Australian community by improving immigration plans and providing immigrants with opportunities for long-term settlement in Australia through permanent residency and citizenship.
- Strengthen international relations by establishing economic and social connections with neighboring countries in the region and international partners.
- Improve the immigration system to operate swiftly, efficiently, and fairly for immigrants and labor recruiters.
8 Tasks to Achieve Objectives:
- Focus on temporary skilled visa categories to address skill shortages in certain industries.
- Revise the skilled migration program to enable skilled workers to become permanent residents capable of driving national growth.
- Enhance the quality of the education system.
- Address worker exploitation and deliberate misuse of visas.
- Optimize immigration plans to allocate resources sensibly.
- Adjust regional visas and working holiday visas to support economic development in those areas.
- Strengthen relationships with countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
- Streamline the comprehensive immigration system.
These are significant, systematic, long-term reforms aimed at improving Australia’s immigration policies. Such changes require thorough deliberation before formal issuance and implementation.
Regarding the Australian Business Innovation and Investment Program (188), Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’neil affirmed that the program would not be abolished. The government is considering reforms as the program has not delivered the desired benefits. Specifically, the 188 program will be reviewed for potential replacement with the “Talent and Innovation Visa” aimed at attracting “high-achieving entrepreneurs, significant investors, and global researchers.” However, information on this is currently limited. According to experts, these proposed changes will require debate, and there may not be further official announcements on the new immigration policy until July 2024.
Navigate Australia will continue to update investors when the Australian Government makes new announcements. Investors can continue to monitor and wait to apply when the program reopens or consider other residency programs from different countries.
If interested in investment migration programs, you may contact Navigate Australia or provide registration details below. NAVAUS’s experienced advisory team will offer detailed guidance and assess the likelihood of success for your application. We assure the confidentiality of personal data and only utilize the information provided for family application consultations.
