The Australian government on Monday (December 11, 2023) said it will attempt to fix the country’s “broken” immigration system by reducing the intake to half of its present quantity within two years.
It aims to slash the annual intake to 250,000 – roughly in line with pre-pandemic levels – by June 2025, reported BBC.
Under the new plan, visa rules for international students and low-skilled workers will be tightened.
“The new Migration Strategy will bring migration back to sustainable levels, ensuring we have the skills we need for the future and, ultimately, make sure the system is working in the interests of all Australians,” read a statement issued by the Australian Ministry of Home Affairs.
Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil said the country’s Migration Strategy is a bold plan to get migration working again for all Australians.
“The Strategy helps us get the skills we need – in healthcare, for our net zero transition and in our digital economy,” she said.
“This Strategy is about building back integrity into the system, with Treasury forecasts showing that migration is expected to decline substantially over the next financial year,” the Minister said.
Among the new measures are tougher minimum English-language requirements for international students, and more scrutiny of those applying for a second visa – they must prove that any further study would advance their academic aspirations or their careers, reported BBC.
Clare O’Neil said: “Today there’s about 650,000 students. So we expect to see that sector continue to grow, but we don’t want it to grow as fast as it has been growing in the past few years.”
She said: “So this is really about making sure we protect the sector, let it grow a little bit, keep those great economic benefits that it’s generating for the country but don’t, frankly, create a free for all where we see young people coming to our country who should be getting a great education and having a great experience, but actually find they’re a victim of a labour scam and getting exploited.”
Speaking on the cap the government is planning to introduce, she said: “They’re very significant measures that we’re taking here, Things like increasing the English language requirements for students, making sure that the students who are coming here are going to be able to study and going to be able to thrive in our labour market. If we do not succeed in that, of course there are other things that we can do, but I’m confident that the measures that we’ve put together here are being done quickly and that we’ve caught this problem in time.”
However, the new measures will not adversely impact Indian students or professionals.
The reforms won’t change opportunities for Indian students to live, study and work in Australia, temporarily after finishing their studies, as these are protected under the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), the people told Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity.
The reforms are also expected to open a new pathway for semi-skilled workers that is likely to benefit Indian nationals, they told the Indian news outlet.
What is ECTA?
The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) entered into force on 29 December 2022.
ECTA helps secure Australia’s foothold in the world’s fastest growing large economy and enables Australian businesses to unlock or expand their operations in a market of nearly one and a half billion people, read the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.