Immigration Highlights from the 2024 Federal Budget

Immigration Highlights from the 2024 Federal Budget

While immigration wasn’t a key focus of the budget handed down by the Federal Government on Tuesday night, some measures were introduced that impact our industry.

We’ve put together a highlights package below, so you won’t have to work through the budget papers to find the details!

Planning level for the permanent migration program

The Government has announced that the permanent Migration Program planning level for 2024-25 will be set at 185,000 places, with 70 percent allocated to the Skill stream.

This decision aims to address Australia’s long-term skill needs and improve cross-government planning by extending the planning horizon to four years. Retaining the program at 185,000 with a 70 per cent target for skilled workers is seen as a positive step, especially as the Government seeks to reduce net overseas migration in light of growing housing shortages.

Work experience requirement reduced for temporary skills shortage visa

From 23 November 2024 onwards, the work experience requirement for the Temporary Skills Shortage Visa (subclass 482) has been reduced from two to one year for all applicants.

New National Innovation Visa

The Government is set to introduce a new National Innovation visa in late 2024, which will replace the current Global Talent visa (subclass 858). This visa is intended to attract highly skilled migrants who possess exceptional talent and will play a key role in driving growth in sectors that are of national importance.

Migration system reform to include more education for migrant workers

$18.3 million has been allocated over four years to reform Australia’s migration system. Migrant workers will receive $15.0 million over three years starting in 2024-25 for information and education initiatives to provide accurate information on workplace protections and compliance with migration laws. Additionally, $1.9 million has been allocated for a data-matching pilot in 2024-25 between the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Taxation Office to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers and abuse of Australia’s labour market and migration system.

Accommodation for international students

The housing crisis is an issue the Federal Government is aiming to address with International Students often blamed for increasing competition for rental accommodation in major cities.

The Government aims to increase housing supply specifically for students by implementing regulatory requirements for student accommodation. This will require universities to provide more purpose-built student accommodation if they wish to increase their international enrolments above current levels.

This measure’s objective is to reduce pressure on the housing market. Accommodation will be available to both local and international students.

Work and holiday visa ballot – China, Vietnam & India

A visa pre-application ballot process is being introduced for the capped Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa program for China, Vietnam and India from 2024-25. The ballot charge will be $25 (indexed to CPI for future years) and aims to manage program demand and application processing times for these countries.

Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early-Professionals Scheme (MATES) for Indian Nationals

A new program called MATES is being introduced for Indian Nationals from November 2024 to provide a new mobility pathway for 3,000 Indian graduates and early career professionals (aged between 18-30 years at the time of application). The program targets people with knowledge and skills in targeted fields of study to live and work in Australia for up to 2 years. The visa will have a pre-application (ballot) charge of $25 and an application fee of $365, which will be indexed to CPI for future years.

Investment in ICT to improve skills assessments

The government will develop a business case to develop a modern ICT solution to assess trade skills for skilled migrants through Trades Recognition Australia.  The aim is to make skilled workers more readily available to employers and support the delivery of the government’s migration and skilled workforce objectives.

Establishment of the Administrative Review Tribunal to address court backlog in migration reviews

The Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) is being established and replacing the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to address court backlogs associated with high numbers of applications for judicial review of migration decisions.