The report is a response to the Australian Government’s Migration Strategy. The report analyses the employer sponsored temporary Skills in Demand (SID) visa program across three streams from December 2024 to 30 September 2025. The early analysis suggests that the SID program is broadly meeting the Migration Strategy objectives, but data is still limited.

Regional visas are a growing part of Australia’s skilled migration system. They are intended to support regional economies and ease pressure on major cities. However this analysis finds many regional visa holders are not in places the public may think of as 'regional'. It concludes that regional policy may not be having its desired effect.

This migration strategy sets out significant reforms to Australia’s migration system to meet the future needs of the nation and deliver for Australia—its people, businesses, governments and migrants.

This report shows that many international graduates stay in Australia on temporary visas once they graduate, but struggle to pursue their chosen careers.

Investigating the current situation where more than 137,000 applicants are stuck in the processing pipeline for a permanent visa to Australia, this long-form essay examines the evidence for and against parent migration and explores the practical, political, and ethical challenges of reform.