Internationalisation and a Big Australia: debates on migration, education and population

Australia’s skilled migration program is changing in ways that are largely overlooked in public debates. Firstly, temporary migration now rivals permanent migration as a source of skilled labour. Secondly, Australia has increasingly moved to a two-step migration process where migrants live and work in Australia on temporary visas before seeking permanent residence. Thirdly there has been a shift away from independent migration to employer sponsorship. Fourthly migration processing has been prioritised so that applications are no longer processed in the order in which they are lodged, but in line with Australia’s perceived economic interests. These processes will be further entrenched through the planned introduction in 2012-13 of a new migrant application and selection process called SkillSelect. The implications of these changes are far-reaching but little discussed.