Let top students and skilled workers stay to drive economic recovery

Skilled workers should get a pathway to permanent Australian residency, including a fast-tracked option for talented international students, under a plan proposed to drive the nation’s post-pandemic recovery.

More than 500,000 temporary migrants have departed Australian shores since the border closed in March 2020, exacerbating skills shortages and threatening the viability of businesses that rely on skilled migrants.

Federal Liberal MP Julian Leeser, chair of Parliament’s migration committee, said Australia could do more to attract global talent to fill skills shortages.Credit:Andrew Meares

Federal Parliament’s migration committee, which has a Coalition majority, has concluded that Australia must do more to remain competitive in its fight for global talent as the US, Canada and the UK moved to offer workers and students more generous residency pathways and work rights.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who chaired the six-month inquiry, said the committee’s proposal to give all temporary skilled visa holders a pathway to permanent residency was driven by businesses saying they were struggling to find workers to fill skill shortages.

The plan would effectively reverse changes made under former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2017 when his government narrowed the pathways to permanent residency by scrapping the 457 visa.

“It’s a very different time now. We’ve got an unemployment rate of 4.9 per cent. Even despite the lockdowns, job advertisements are 38 per cent higher than they were at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Mr Leeser said.

In a report tabled on Monday, the committee suggested the government offer the “best and brightest” international students, who were willing to fill skill shortages, a two-year pathway to permanent residency under the employer nominated scheme, shaving one year off the process. It also recommended offering students longer temporary graduate visas of three years to give them time to find jobs.

The move was welcomed by Universities Australia, which said the changes would benefit “exactly the kind of highly-skilled, bright students who will make a big contribution to Australian life and productivity.”

The committee also supported another major change from past Coalition policy, backing an increase in the minimum wage migrants can be paid in non-regional areas. That has been set at $53,900, though higher industry wages still apply, and it has not moved for the last eight years.

The report also called for workers who go to regional areas to have an easier path to residency, including easier English tests and looser experience requirements.

Labor committee member Julian Hill branded the recommendations a “remarkable and blatant repudiation” of Mr Dutton’s tenure as immigration minister.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said skilled migration was critical to Australia’s pandemic recovery and he would be examining the recommendations closely.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the nation’s largest employer lobby, welcomed the committee’s recommendation to increase pathways to permanent residency.

“It’s a smart move,” said Jenny Lambert, the chamber’s director of employment and skills. But she said its impact would be muted while borders were closed and businesses are struggling to bring in staff.

Mr Hill, speaking on behalf of the Labor committee members, said they agreed with most but not all of its recommendations but argued the Coalition had missed the chance to recommend large-scale reform.

The committee stopped short of recommending specific changes to address the concerns held by international students holding 485 post-study work visa. The visa allows overseas students to work in Australia for up to four years after they graduate, but many have been unable to take up this option due to border closures and have pleaded with the federal government to freeze or extend their visas.

Phil Honeywood, chief executive of the International Education Association of Australia, said students stranded overseas had paid upwards of $1,600 for a visa that they have not been able to use, on top of their high fees to study in Australia.

“These young people deserve the right to have their 485 visa reinstated, when they are finally permitted to re-enter Australia, with no time or cost penalties,” Mr Honeywood said.

Lisa Visentin is a federal political reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, covering education and communications.

Nick Bonyhady is industrial relations reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based between Sydney and Parliament House in Canberra.

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