Australian Immigration Minister - Media Release

Below is a reprint of a Media Release by the Minister for Immigration in Australia.

This gives an overview of the current state of the migration program and explains the government's thinking in trying to sharpen the focus to make it more employer driven.

However it is still disappointing that no indication of the date of approval of State Migration Plans has been given.

If you wish to move to Australia, then please visit our website;

http://www.commonwealthimmigration.com/visas_countries.html#Australia

www.teaching-australia.com

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CHRIS BOWEN MP
MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
MEDIA RELEASE
27 October 2010

MIGRATION PROGRAM TARGETING SKILLS

Australia’s migration program continues to target the skills Australia needs for a healthy economy, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, announced today.

Launching the Report on Migration Program 2009-10, Mr Bowen said the Government’s targeted approach to overseas workers was helping to fill critical skills gaps in the healthcare, engineering, financial services and IT sectors.

More than 60 per cent of the skill stream outcome comprised applicants under the targeted categories, including those who were sponsored by either an employer or state/territory government – a 12 per cent increase on the previous program year.

The total outcome for the 2009-10 migration program was 168,623 places (0.05 per cent below the planning level). The 2009-10 skill stream outcome of 107,868 places accounted for 64 per cent of the total migration program.

The skilled program planning level was reduced in the 2009-10 Budget to 108,100 in response to the continued economic slowdown through most of 2009.

Despite this, the proportion of overseas workers who were sponsored by employers continued to rise, comprising 38 per cent of the 2009-10 skill stream, compared to 33 per cent in 2008-09 and 22 per cent in the 2007-08 program year.

“This outcome is consistent with the Government’s focus on high-demand, employer-sponsored professionals in areas where Australia has critical skill shortages,” Mr Bowen said.

“The program met the Government's objective of sharpening the focus on skilled migration and targeting the needs of Australian industries and employers.”

The migration program showed that across all permanent skilled visa categories, the top three occupations were accountants (6,734), computing professionals (5,370) and registered nurses (3,960) while the top three countries of citizenship for these categories were the United Kingdom (18,487), India (18,042) and China (14,505).

The Government announced in the 2010-11 Budget that the overall level of skilled migration would increase by 5,750 places to further address Australia’s needs as the economic climate improves. This will increase the proportion of skilled migrants to 67.5 per cent of the migration program.

The top three countries of citizenship under the family stream were China (10,218), the United Kingdom (7,229) and India (5,103). Overall, the United Kingdom remains Australia’s largest source of migrants with a total outcome of 25,738 or 15 per cent of the total migration program in 2009-10, with China (24,768) and India (23,164)
following closely behind.

The Report on Migration Program 2009-10 is available on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship Website at

www.immi.gov.au/media/statistics/statistical-info/visa-grants/