Current Immigration Situation in Australia

With Australia in political turmoil many migrants are wondering what the future holds for them. Is it worth applying for a visa now? What if the immigration policy changes? Our Embrace Community is full of members asking what the future holds for them and whilst there is no easy answer, we aim to give you a guide to what is happening at the moment and answering some of the more common questions on the community.

What’s happening in Australian Politics at the moment?

At the moment Australia has a hung parliament, which means that no political party was able to win a majority. Two parties were running neck and neck for government, the Labour Party headed by Julia Gillard and the Liberal Coalition led by Tony Abbott.

Both parties are now in talks with 3 independents and 1 Green party member. They need their crucial support if they are to form a government. The Greens have previously said they would back Labour because of Mr Abbott’s denial of climate change, but both parties are promising changes to suit the independents just to secure their support. If the independents decide not to go with either party then the Australian public may have to re-cast their votes.

Which political party is more sympathetic to migrants?

Well both parties have pledged to cut back on immigration. The Liberals have said they will slash immigration levels to 170,000 whereas the Labour controlled Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) have also said that migrant numbers will be down to 145,000 by 2011/12.Current immigration numbers are just under 300,000.

Traditionally Labour have always been more sympathetic to migrants with flexible immigration policies, but following misleading media reports on population growth, Labour appear to have bought into the hype and introduced tougher legislation that allows the DIAC to cap certain visas and even certain groups of migrants. This decision has angered the business community who have called on the government to address the issue of severe skills shortages that they say, will result in businesses moving away from Australia and investing elsewhere.

When will the State Migration Plans be released?

When the DIAC announced changes at the beginning of July that included the implementation of the new Skilled Occupations List, the States announced that their own migration plans would be revised in line with the new changes. The state of Victoria announced in July that their own State Migration Plan would not be implemented until September, which is when the other states were also expected to reveal their SMPs. However since then there has been an election called…..

It now looks likely that any State Migration Plans will be put on hold until the political situation in Australia is resolved. The SMPs will no doubt already be drafted, but they need to be approved by the minister and further planned changes by the DIAC were also expected beforehand. Therefore SMPs will be delayed for another couple of months yet.

Susan Wareham McGrath from McGrath Migration Lawyers has this advice for prospective migrants to Australia: “Some states are still nominating applications for You can still apply for state sponsorship, but intending applicants should carefully re-appraise the eligibility requirements before assuming they meet the application criteria”.

“For example, Queensland is now only accepting applications from people with occupations on its eligible occupations list AND the new SOL.

“While our discussions with state skilled migration units have disclosed that the new SMPs will to a great extent reflect the current lists, applicants should be aware that there is no guarantee of this, particularly with regard to occupations that are not on the SOL.”

“In addition, applicants should keep in mind that DIAC has advised that with even with state sponsorship, if a nominated occupation is not on the  sponsoring state or territory’s SMP, the application will be processed on the basis of your nominated occupation.  That means that even with sponsorship, an application could end up in processing priority 4”.

“The good news is that DIAC has also advised that current state sponsored applications with occupations on SMPs will be escalated to processing priority 2 when the SMPs take effect.”.

I’m a recent graduate without an occupation on the SOL, what should I do?

Well one of your options is to try for employer sponsorship. Apply for a temporary working visa and search for work within your area or a working holiday visa which is slightly different. The differences between these two visas are explained by the DIAC in their Working Holiday Visas section.  You could then ask your employer if they would be willing to sponsor your visa application to Australia. Your chances of success are higher if you look for work in a field that are experiencing shortages.

Otherwise, you could wait until the new SMPs are revealed to see if your occupation is on a state critical skills list. This would enable you to apply for state sponsorship but you will need to show some work experience in that area and complete a skills assessment. You can apply under current SMPs but be aware that these may change as they are currently under review and due to be released this year.

Or you could examine the SOL closely and try to find a match closest to your qualifications. Gain experience in that area, either in the UK or in Australia on a temporary visa and try to apply for a skilled visa using your experience to gain vital points.

If I have enough points on DIAC’s points tests to apply for independent skilled migration, can I apply for a subclass 175 visa now, then switch to a state sponsored 176 if my occupation is on a new SMP?

Susan Wareham McGrath explains that this strategy is not without risk as DIAC has advised that it is not possible to change a nominated occupation or to change to an employer sponsored or state nominated visa category, unless a new application is lodged. A new application would require the payment of a new Visa Application Charge, currently AU$2,575.

I applied for a Skilled Migration Visa at the beginning of the year and I’ve not heard back yet.

This isn’t unusual, DIAC processing times are now suggested to be around six months for those with a new State Migration Plan (once they are announced) and for those with an occupation on the SOL but without SMP approval could find themselves waiting for up to 18 months. For those without an occupation on the SOL or on the SMP the wait could be even longer.

I would suggest that new applicants wait until the political chaos has subsided before contacting their Case Officers with a reminder about their application.

Will the DIAC cap any more visas?

That’s impossible to say. In May the DIAC proposed the Migration Amendment Bill which was passed by Parliament. If the Bill becomes law it gives the Immigration Minister the power to cap and case visa applications based on applicant groups, such as applicants who have all nominated a particular occupation. This is on top of the power the Minister already has to cap and cease certain visas.

The DIAC say that the Bill will ensure that skilled workers are matched with those occupations that are suffering a skills shortage. However it made many applicants fear that they could be targeted by the DIAC. There are no plans to cap and cease any visa or visa applicant group at the moment, but who knows what the future may hold.

Whilst all of this may seem like bleak reading it is important to bear in mind that Australia is still suffering from a skills shortage in many areas. Over recent months many major businesses and business leaders have called on the government to make immigration rules more flexible to allow for more temporary migrants into the workforce.

Senior DIAC sources also suggest that Senator Chris Evans, the Immigration Minister, will not retain the Migration Portfolio, regardless of the electoral outcome, so he could soon be replaced by someone else. This gives hope that a new person will bring along new ideas to the DIAC and hopefully some reforms that will work. Susan Wareham McGrath comments: “True reform of Australia’s migration system, will not occur until DIAC’s entire leadership team, from the Departmental Secretary down, takes a fresh, hard and honest look at the situation it has created, develops innovative, equitable and just policies and practices, and leads its staff to deliver them efficiently and knowledgeably. 

Only then will our intending migrants have the certainty and clear guidelines they deserve, to inform one of the most significant and life-changing decisions they will ever make – to migrate to Australia.”

If you have any further questions or want to debate the issue in more depth then feel free to join our Embrace Community for chat and support.

Love Australia? Let us keep you informed...

• Join the Embrace Australia community today. Have your questions answered by our experts, start your own blog, get vital migration information and gain valuable insight from those who have already made the journey.
• Subscribe to our RSS Feed and have all our daily news and features delivered straight to your news reader.
• Join our mailing list -