The Australian Government, in its recently announced 2010/11 Budget has declared it intends to sharpen the focus of the skilled migration program to meet key skill shortages. It remains committed to its “Big Australia” concept, however, with the total number of immigrant places remaining the same.

Immigration Minister, Senator Chris Evans said that the reforms “support the government’s policy to deliver a more demand-driven skilled migration program that meets the needs of the economy in sectors and regions where there are shortages of skilled workers”. Healthcare, engineering and mining are three of the areas highlighted by Senator Evans – with the newly released Skilled Occupation List now in force completing the overall picture of identified skill shortages.

Overall, the Australian Immigration program planned intake will remain the same as for the 2009/2010 budget year. The Skilled Migration (including General Skilled Migration, Employer Nomination Scheme, Business Migration and Distinguished Talent streams) program will make up 113,850 - an increase of 5450 - of these places, while the Family Migration quota will reduce by 5750 to 54,550. The Humanitarian Program will remain unchanged.

General skilled migration numbers will be reduced by 3600 (to 61,500), to allow for 9150 additional employer-sponsored skilled placements (to now total 44,150). The Business Skills proportion of skilled migrant numbers will increase by 200, to 8000.

According to Senator Evans, this increase will prove beneficial to both Australian employers and migrants, giving employers access to “applicants with skills in high demand that cannot be met from domestic sources” and migrants confidence that they have a “job with a direct match to their skills on arrival”.

The government has not specifically addressed the issue of where the reduction of almost 10% to family migration is likely to be implemented. However it is likely that cuts or longer processing times will affect Parent category visa applications as they have a lower processing priority than other family stream visa applicants such as partners, children and the contributory parent category.

If you have are wondering how the latest budget announcements will affect your visa application, please contact us so that we can provide you with advice relevant to your circumstances.
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