Opinion | In reforming Australia’s immigration policies, serious obstacles remain
- While proposed policy changes promise a better, more efficient and humane migration system, there are still underlying historic concerns
- The country continues to grapple with racism and discrimination, with research indicating that a sizeable minority still doesn’t welcome migrants
While the policy shifts are positive and seem genuinely to be moving towards a better, more efficient and humane migration system – including with regard to student and working visas – underlying historic concerns, largely beyond the reach of government, remain.
Factors include a serious dearth of labour in certain sectors of the workforce, where positions can only be filled in the short to medium term by migrants. In 2022, there were 286 occupations experiencing a labour shortage, against 153 the year before. Sectors facing the worst shortages are nursing, elderly and child care, education, construction and engineering.
The review committee’s report was released in March and contains various recommendations. An outline published in April canvassing the proposed policy changes contained aspirational language around prioritising economic outcomes and building in sustainable systems.
A further two policy shifts seek to dig into some deeper issues. The first is about “ensuring proper investment in housing, infrastructure and services to secure the benefits of migration”. Here, the government says: “We will also do more to assist migrants to achieve better labour market outcomes and we will do more to design out exploitation from the migration system.”
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The second aims to “focus on integrity measures to rid the system of abuse”. For potential long-term visitors and migrants thinking about coming to Australia, the inclusion of such agendas is encouraging, and the government’s willingness to take a run at them is commendable.