Australia changes skilled migration rules

Last Updated: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 14:26:00 +1100

Australia's Immigration Minister Chris Evans says changes to the skilled migration program will shift the emphasis from a supply driven system to one more focussed on demand.

He says under the current scheme, overseas students have been able to treat visas to study in Australia as a precursor to staying here.

The changes planned by the government will scrap the list of jobs used to pick migrants, with many overseas students seeing an immediate impact.

Senator Evans says he hopes the new scheme will shift the emphasis in the migration program.

"If you get a student visa to Australia it's a visa to study, it's not a visa to stay permanently - that decision is an education decision not a migration decision," he said.

"Australia will continue to recruit the best and brightest students but there is no direct link between getting a visa to study in Australia and getting a permanent residency."

Senator Evans told Radio Australia Today the changes will also allow Australia to choose which migrants it needs.

"At the moment we have a supply driven situation particularly from international students and people get in the queue and expect a visa according to where they are in then queue," he said.

"What we are trying to do is saying so we are trying come into jobs, meet skilled vancancies in Australia, so were are trying to get the link between employers so we get better job outcomes and meet the skills need of the economy."

A spokesman for Indian students in Australia says the government must be careful in retrospectively amending its skilled migration program.

An advisor to the Federation of Indian Students of Australia, Gautam Gupta, says while the government has the right to amend its skilled migration list, it has to be careful how it treats students who are already here.

"This was not a requirement when they came here, this requirement has been sneaked up on them," he said.

"People will be looking at not only what happened in these particular cases and what courses to choose, but they will also be looking at Australia with a view that, 'Do we really trust the government?'

"This why people when they invest, when they make an investment decision, they talk about political stability. It comes down to that."

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