Australia plans new migration system
04 May 2015 by News Desk
Migrants to Australia will no longer be assessed on their skills or family connections if radical new plans are adopted by the government.
For anyone seeking to migrate to Australia, instead of the current ‘preferred skills’ system, the government would sell the right to live and work in Australia. The Productivity Commission is currently investigating a price-based immigration system that would use entry fees as the primary means to decide who gains entry to Australia. A figure of $50,000 has been suggested as the possible cost of entry to Australia.
Darrell Todd, CEO of thinkingaustralia, says: “These new proposals represent a fundamental change in Australia’s immigration system and could make it a lot easier and quicker for people to live and work down under. It will take time to introduce the new rules, if they are adopted, but while it could be the answer to many migrants’ dreams the new plans could also create a minefield of problems for the government and for employers who currently rely on the skills-based system”.
The new scheme is being considered as means of reducing Australia’s budget deficit and could raise tens of billions of dollars in extra revenue and reduce the number of public servants that currently administer Australia’s immigration system.
The Productivity Commission proposals include introducing an immigration lottery and creating a HECS-style payment system for immigrants to pay back their entry fee. The new plans include two options to introduce an “immigration fee”: setting a price, with the size of the intake dictated by demand; or setting a cap on the intake and allowing demand to dictate the price of entry.
There could also be middle ground options such as allowing a capped number of places to be allocated via a tender process. The United States – whose immigration program is less skills-focussed than Australia’s – uses a “diversity lottery” to allocate up to 50,000 places a year to applicants from countries with low rates of immigration to the US.
The inability of many potential migrants to pay upfront could be addressed by allowing them to borrow against future earnings or by introducing a loans program.
The Australian migration program currently issues permanent residency visas to three streams of migrants: those with particular skills; those with families in Australia; and others who meet special eligibility criteria.
The proposals do not find favour with business groups and unions, who say tackling skills shortages should remain the focus of Australia’s immigration policy. Community groups say they will oppose any changes that prevent immigrants from re-uniting with their families.
The government-ordered inquiry is currently canvassing opinions from relevant parties and organisations and the Productivity Commission will release a draft report in November and hold public hearings before it publishes its final report in March 2016.
