Migration reform is on the way, Clare O’Neil says, as skills shortages constrain business growth

The federal government says it will overhaul Australia’s migration system to better meet the needs of tomorrow’s economy, as today’s businesses contend with skills shortages partly caused by a precipitous fall in skilled migrant intake through the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Monday morning, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil announced a “comprehensive review” of the immigration system, helmed by experts with extensive knowledge of the regulatory landscape.

Those experts — Dr Martin Parkinson, a former secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and Macquarie University chancellor; Dr Joanna Howe, Associate Professor in Law at the University of Adelaide; and John Azarias, ex-senior partner at Deloitte — will conduct the review, O’Neil said.

The panel will consult with businesses, unions, migrant communities, and government leaders.

The review’s end goal: a new migration strategy, updating the “current visa framework, including both the temporary and permanent visa programs, and the processes and systems that support the administration of that framework”, the review’s terms of reference state.

Changes may include “reforms to the visa framework, the policy and legislative framework, information and communication technology systems and processes, and linkages with other parts of government”.

Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast, O’Neil said today’s immigration system is “broken” and in need of systemic reform.

“How can we design a system that’s simple, that’s inexpensive, that’s fast, that’s easy to use, and helps us get the best out of these people that want to make Australia our home?” she said.

The panel will provide an interim report to O’Neil’s office on February 28, 2023, with those findings set to weigh heavily on Labor’s 2023-24 federal budget in May.

For small businesses, concerns over the skilled migration system have centred on its perceived inaccessibility, impracticality, and its response to dire skills shortages.

In a submission to the federal government ahead of September’s Jobs and Skills Summit, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) raised concerns over the official skilled migration lists which outline Australia’s occupation shortages.

“Decisions made about the skilled migration lists have sometimes been arbitrary and that there has been insufficient consultation to understand which industries should be included,” COSBOA said.

While COSBOA said greater industry consultation over those lists could boost their effectiveness, other groups, including the Business Council of Australia, want a simpler fix: skilled migrant visas for all workers set to earn more than $90,000 a year in their job.

As business leaders jockey to share their views on the new review, the government has already stepped in with immigration reform measures.

On Friday, the Department of Home Affairs revealed the government has done away with the “out-dated” Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List, a Morrison government-era list detailing the occupations facing the most significant shortages as a result of the nation’s closed border policy.