Released by the Australian Government the 11 of December 2023, the Migration Strategy sets out significant reforms to Australia’s migration system to meet the future needs of the nation and deliver for Australia—its people, businesses, governments and migrants.

Migrants continue to be an essential part of Australia’s economic and social fabric. Today, more than half of all Australians were born overseas or have a parent born overseas.

The Migration Strategy outlines five core objectives for Australia’s migration system. To achieve these objectives, the Government will deliver eight key actions, supported by more than 25 new policy commitments and existing commitments already made by Government.

The reforms focus on:

• targeted skilled migration and new streamlined pathways for top global talent
• higher standards for international students and education providers to drive quality in international education
• visa settings to tackle worker exploitation and protect wages and conditions
• support for regional Australia to get fast access to skilled workers
• a new approach to migration planning to help return migration back to pre-pandemic levels and to get the right skills in the right places.

The Strategy and Action Plan are now available at Migration Strategy.

From: The gurdian.com

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has flagged a major plan to return immigration to what he believes is a sustainable level after a post-Covid influx.

Immigration will be scaled back to what are considered sustainable levels hand-in-hand with a crackdown on abuses of Australia’s intake of overseas students.

The impending overhaul follows a once-in-a-generation review which determined the nation’s immigration system was “badly broken” and in need of a 10-year rebuild, Albanese said.

“What we know is that we need to have a migration system that enables Australia to get the skills that we need but make sure the system is working in the interests of all Australians,” he told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.

“Well, we are determined to fix this.”

Albanese said there was always going to be a jump in immigration after Covid-19 although current projections were lower than those prior to Australia shutting its borders during the pandemic.

Treasury forecasts also showed the intake is expected to decline substantially over the coming financial year.

However, the review, conducted by former Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet head Martin Parkinson, had found concerning abuses of Australia’s acceptance of international students, the prime minister said.

“People are coming here, enrolling in courses that don’t really add substantially to either their skills base or to the national interest here,” he said.

“So it’s not in the interests of our neighbours, nor is it in the interests of Australia, that there not be a crackdown on this.

“We’re determined to do that.”

While the government already had a blueprint for increased housing and a $120bn infrastructure rollout, the full details of the immigration overhaul would be unveiled next week, Albanese said.

The Australian Government has announced that international students are no longer able to enrol in two courses at the same time within the first six months of study in their principal course.

As a result, concurrent enrolments are now closed to international students in the first six months of study – taking effect immediately.

This means that education and training providers will not be able to concurrently enrol students who have not completed 6 months of their principal course.

The ESOS Act National Code 2018 requires education and training providers to approve or decline requests for release during the 6-month transfer restriction period. Visit the page on  changing your course or provider for more information.

This change does not impact students already holding concurrent enrolments.

from: Study Australia

Proposed revisions to student visa processes may soon provide applicants with the opportunity to utilize their educational pursuits as a pathway to immigrate to Australia and join the nation’s workforce upon completing their studies. Under new reforms introduced by the Albanese government, prospective international students arriving in Australia will have the option to express their intention to migrate within their visa applications.

As per the current Home Affairs guidelines, overseas student applicants must satisfy the Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement, which restricts their stay in Australia to the pursuit of a «quality» tertiary education for the duration of their university degree. To meet the GTE requirement, applicants must submit a 300-word statement outlining their personal circumstances related to their decision to pursue overseas education. However, they are prohibited from indicating any intention to obtain residency in Australia through the program. Those who attempt to use the student visa pathway solely for the purpose of working and living in Australia are typically rejected.

With the current Labor government’s push for increased immigration activity, especially after recent reviews highlighted significant deficiencies in the sector, it is expected that the GTE condition will be eliminated. The policy is likely to be amended to permit aspiring migrants.

It is anticipated that visa requirements will transition to a Genuine Student Test (GST), which will enable the consideration of high-skilled applicants capable of contributing to Australia’s workforce upon completing their studies, thus addressing the nation’s labor shortage.

The Migration Review’s final report, released in March, identified the need for a more focused approach to attract high-potential international students. It highlighted that the Student Visa program should serve as a vital source of high-performing, skilled migrants but has not fully realized its potential. The report recommended expanding Student Visa settings to maximize the opportunity to retain top university graduates and introducing a GST pathway.

Key figures in the education sector have long advocated for these reforms, arguing that they could help alleviate vocational job vacancies that domestic workers are not filling. However, there is a risk that these changes could lead to an increase in fraudulent visa applications from individuals who have no genuine interest in pursuing education.

In April, several Australian universities announced restrictions on students from certain parts of South Asia due to a pervasive pattern of fraudulent visa applications. Additionally, concerns have been raised about the potential impact of increased net migration on an already strained housing market.

According to budget papers in March, Australia’s net overseas migration is projected to increase by 750,000 people over the next two years and almost 1.5 million within the next five. While Labour has faced calls for more affordable housing investment, it has instead focused on a $3 billion funding commitment to build 1.2 million homes over the next five years, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described as «the most significant reforms to housing policy in a generation.»

From: skynews

The Australian Government has announced that from 1 October 2023, the amount of funds student visa applicants will need to meet the financial capacity requirement will increase.
International education is our fourth largest export industry and maintaining the quality and integrity of this sector is critical for the Australian economy and our relationships in our region.
The Australian Government has closed a loophole which allows education providers to shift international students who have been in Australia for less than six months from genuine study to an arrangement designed to facilitate access to work in Australia.
There has been a sharp uptake in the use of the concurrent function in 2023 – in the first half of 2023, 17,000 concurrent enrolments were created, compared to approximately 10,500 for the same period in 2019 and 2022 combined.
Recent investigations have identified this misuse of ‘concurrent enrolment’ as an integrity issue for the international sector.
This change takes effect immediately.
The Government will also increase the amount of savings international students will need in order to get a student visa. This requirement has not been indexed since 2019 and needs to increase to reflect higher living expenses. From October 1 2023, international students will need to show evidence of $24,505 in savings, which is a 17% increase on current levels. This increase accounts for indexation since 2019.
This change will ensure students coming to Australia to study can afford to support themselves and will not face increased risk of exploitation due to an urgent need for employment.
The Government will apply additional scrutiny to high-risk cohorts and ask for additional documents to prevent fraud in applications.