The Albanese Labor Government has spent the past four years delivering a more orderly, fair, and targeted migration system, while also getting Net Overseas Migration down by 47 per cent.
Our focus is on attracting the skills Australia needs, supporting economic growth and productivity, and ensuring migration settings work for Australian workers and communities.
Today’s Net Overseas Migration data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show our sensible and measured approach is working – with NOM falling to 292,000, down 47 per cent from the post-Covid peak in 2023.
Today we are outlining the next stage of migration policies, and they are designed to deliver the Net Overseas Migration forecasts in the Budget of 245,000 in this financial year and 225,000 in 2027/28.
Australia welcomes people who make a genuine contribution to our country. Australia does not support people who seek to rort or defraud the system. We’re making changes to give us more control over who arrives, who stays and who leaves.
We will do this by:
- Strengthening compliance measures to ensure people without valid visas leave the country.
- Updating Ministerial Direction 119 to ensure the skilled migration program supports priority processing for a range of key sectors, including healthcare, construction, education, law enforcement, defence, resources, agriculture, aquaculture and fishing.
- Improving the integrity of student visas by stopping visa hopping and restricting secondary applicants on most student visas
- Cracking down on rogue migration agents who knowingly support visa applications without merit
- Introducing a No Further Stay condition to all visitor visas to ensure they are only used by genuine visitors and not as a pathway to extending a stay in Australia.
- Updating Ministerial Direction 110 to combat hate and criminal behaviour by:
- better protecting children who are victims of crime
- better protecting victims of domestic and family violence, and
- reflecting modern Australia’s commitment to stamping out hatred.
- Changing the Working Holiday Maker Program to introduce a ballot system for years two and three where there will be a regional work requirement in support of regional Australia. The government will also stabilise processing times for Working Holiday Maker applications to three months.
We will continue to be strong on borders and maintain the integrity of our migration system, while treating people with the fairness and decency that Australians expect.
Quotes Attributable to Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke MP
“The government supports immigration but is opposed to anyone rorting the immigration system.
“Almost everyone who comes to Australia is a good guest in our country. These reforms are to ensure that our migration system can be better targeted to the current needs of Australia.
