ANU Policy Brief - The problems with Australia’s Permanent Migration Program and how to address them

Only 12 per cent of places in Australia’s Permanent Migration Program go to offshore skilled entrants, with a large proportion taken up by partners and children or family migrants.

This leaves too few places for other groups of people, such as those on employer-sponsored visas – and this group consistently delivers the strongest labour market outcomes.

Redefining the Migration Program to focus on Skilled Stream applicants would create clearer pathways from temporary to permanent skilled work.