Skilled Migration reform announced

Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans this morning announced a reform of Australia’s skilled migration program. These reforms will essentially reposition skilled migration from a supply- to a demand-based system.

According to the Minister, the reform delivers a skilled migration program that will “...be much more responsive to the needs of Australian Industry” and have a clear “alignment to Australia’s skills needs”.

Changes on the whole will have little impact on the ICT industry, and can be seen as a positive development for the sector with larger business likely to particularly benefit.

There are three major components to the change.

The Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) will be scrapped - effective immediately - and replaced with a Skills Occupation List (SOL) in mid-2010. The CSL (critical skills list) will remain until a new and more targeted Skilled Occupation List  is introduced; it will then be revoked. The SOL will be developed by Skills Australia, focus on high value professions and trades and be subject to annual review; according to the Minister. ICT, which has sat at the top of the MODL for some time, can be anticipated to feature prominently on the SOL.

The points test used to assess migrants for general skilled migration will be reviewed to evaluate its effectiveness in selecting high-calibre applicants with the skills needed for the future. It will consider whether some occupations should warrant more points than others, the degree to which overseas qualifications should be recognised and whether sufficient points are awarded for work experience and English competency. The review will report to government later this year.

And regional requirements will now be factored into national plans through the development of State Migration Plans based on the economic circumstances in each local area. These plans will recognise the different skill requirements that each State and Territory has and prioritise accordingly.

In his speech, the Minister recognised that skilled migration currently delivers around half of the IT workforce. He described the aims of the reform as moving towards a system that more strongly supports Employer sponsored visa programs, citing statistics that around 80 percent of sponsored visa recipients find and retain skilled work, compared to levels of around 50 percent for other skilled migrant visas.