In 2016/17, immigration through the permanent migration programme outcome decreased by 3% to 183 600 visas. The composition of the total permanent migration programme echoes the patterns of the last five years. Most of the places available in 2016-17 were in the Skill stream (67%), with around 31% in the Family stream. 3 400 Child visas (2%) were issued and the remaining 420 visas (0.2%) were granted under the Special Eligibility stream.
The Skill stream decreased its share of the Migration Programme by 4%, from 128 600 places in 2015-16 to 123 600 in 2016-17. Points Tested Skilled Migration and Employer Sponsored visas accounted for 55% and 39%, respectively. The Business Innovation and Investment Programme accounted for the remaining 6%, with a small number of visas (200) granted under Distinguished Talent. The Family stream was mostly formed by the Partner – spouse or fiancé – category (85%), with the Parent category at 13%. The Other Family category, including carers; remaining, aged, dependent and orphan relatives, accounted for the remaining 830 visas.
The main origin countries for the Migration Programme were India (21%, 38 400 places), China (15%, 27 800) and the United Kingdom (9%, 16 900). Overall, Southern Asia, including India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh among others, provided almost a third of the total.
In contrast to permanent migration trends, temporary migration increased by 9% in 2016-17, up to 8.4 million visas. Of these, almost two thirds went to people granted Visitor status, an additional 23% to New Zealand citizens granted a Special Category visa. The Working Holiday Maker Programme accounted for just over 211 000 visas, with the United Kingdom, Germany, Korea and France being the main origin countries. Temporary Work Skilled visas (subclass 457) also increased by 2% in 2016-17. One-quarter were granted to nationals of India, followed by the United Kingdom (16%) and China (6%).
Over the last decade, student migration has been rising reaching a record of 343 000 Student visas granted in 2016-17, 10% more than in the previous year. The main source countries remained China (23%), India (10%) and Brazil (6%). Students from OECD countries comprised only 21%. Nepal (up 74%), Brazil and Columbia saw the greatest annual growth.
The Humanitarian Programme visas rose by 25% in 2016-17 to almost 22 000. This included 20 300 visas under the offshore resettlement component and 1 700 under the onshore component. The five main countries of origin for offshore visas were Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and Bhutan. Most of these visas have been granted to young people, with 58% under 30 years old and 32% under 14 years.
Throughout 2017, Australia has implemented a number of reforms of the temporary and permanent employer-sponsored skill migration programmes. The Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) has been abolished and replaced with the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa. The TSS visa comprises a short-term stream (valid for up to two years) and a medium-term (valid for up to four years for more critical skills shortages). TSS introduces several policy innovations, such as increased English requirements, a two years’ minimum relevant work experience, a more targeted occupation list (updated biannually), mandatory labour market testing, and an employer requirement to contribute to the Skilling Australians Fund.
Permanent Employer Sponsored visa requirements have been tightened. Applicants must now be under the age of 45 at the time of application and have at least three years of experience. Applicants must pay a contribution to the Skilling Australians Fund, and their employers must pay the market salary rate and meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT).
The Working and Holiday visa (subclass 462) was also reviewed. Changes to this visa allow staying with one employer for up to 12 months, as long as the second semester is worked in a different region. The maximum eligible age is planned to increase from 30 to 35 years. Since the beginning of 2017, four new Work and Holiday visa arrangements started with Hungary, Luxembourg, San Marino and Viet Nam.
The Community Proposal Pilot was replaced by the Community Support Programme, which was introduced in July 2017. The programme enables communities, businesses and individuals to propose humanitarian visa applicants with employment prospects and to support new arrivals. Supporters need to demonstrate their ability to provide adequate funding to enable refugees to achieve financial self-sufficiency within the first year in Australia. Up to 1 000 places for the Community Support Programme are included in the 2017-18 Humanitarian Programme target of 16 250 places. Another government settlement programme is the Career Pathways Pilot, a three-year project to assist newly arrived humanitarian migrants to get a similar profession to the one they had in their origin countries. Pilot participants must be within the first five years of settlement, with professional or trade skills and a good English proficiency.
