From queue to pool: skilled migration gets a makeover

10 February 2010Peter Mares analyses the latest changes to Australia’s migration program for Inside Story

THE CHANGES announced and implemented on Monday by the immigration minister, Chris Evans, constitute the most fundamental reform of Australia’s skilled migration program in more than two decades. Senator Evans has not only addressed an immediate and thorny issue – the problematic link between permanent migration and the marketing of Australian education – he has also signalled a major rethinking of how Australia selects skilled migrants for permanent residency. (Family and humanitarian migration are not affected by the changes.) There will be a great deal of pain for some organisations and for many individuals as a result, and the full consequences will take many years to be felt. Some pressing problems remain – most notably the blow-out in processing times for non-priority visa applications already in the system – but the attempt to shift policy onto a new footing is driven by a strong and defensible rationale...

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