As part of its work to deliver the skilled labour needed to support Western Australia’s strong economy and jobs market, the McGowan Government has made changes to its migration program to ensure WA is the State of choice for skilled workers migrating to Australia.
The McGowan Government will amend the State nomination criteria by introducing some temporary measures, including:
- waiving the $200 application fee;
- halving the requirement to have an employment contract from 12 months to six months;
- reducing requirements for applicants to demonstrate sufficient funds;
- removing additional English requirements for professional and manager occupations, and;
- reducing work experience requirements for the 2022-23 program year to attract more skilled workers to WA.
The temporary changes to WA’s skilled migration pathway are expected to be implemented over the course of the next month, and have been introduced following feedback directly to the Premier during his recent mission to Europe, the United Kingdom and Qatar.
These measures also coincide with WA securing an increased allocation of places in the Commonwealth Government’s State Nominated Migration Program, following advocacy by the McGowan Government.
WA received 8,140 places for 2022-23, 4,950 more places than the previous year and the third largest allocation overall, after New South Wales and Victoria.
To capture all priority industries, the State Government has increased occupations eligible for skilled migration in WA by around 60 per cent based on feedback from industry.
The additions include 46 health occupations and bring the total list to 276 occupations.
Regional skill needs are being supported with 33 of the new occupations aligning with four current Designated Area Migration Agreements in place in WA regions to respond to unique regional economic and labour market conditions.
This will provide a permanent migration pathway for skilled migrants already working in regional WA.
In July, the McGowan Government launched a new Skilled Migrant Employment Register to connect skilled migrants with WA jobs.
This free register can be accessed through the Migration WA Portal, and has been designed to support skilled migrants to settle in WA while giving employers visibility of new talent.
This complements the McGowan Government’s $195 million Reconnect WA program, which includes initiatives to attract overseas skilled workers, backpackers and international students to the State.
With several international advertising campaigns running to attract workers in key industries, including building and construction, manufacturing, healthcare, tourism and agriculture, the changes will bolster WA’s position in the international and national market for skilled workers.
The upcoming Australian Jobs and Skills Summit, to be held on September 1 and 2, will provide further opportunities for the State Government to raise issues that are vital to workforce participation in WA.
For more information and to access the migration portal visit migration.wa.gov.au
As stated by Premier Mark McGowan:
“WA’s strong economic growth, very low unemployment rate and high demand for skilled workers mean there is a need to attract in-demand workers through a variety of channels to help sustain our economy.
“The changes to the State Nominated Migration Program will build on our work to boost skilled migration in areas of high demand by making migration to WA easier.
“We have been successful in advocating for WA’s needs nationally, and the Australian Jobs and Skills Summit will give me further opportunity to address issues managed by the Commonwealth Government.
“I will continue to work to boost our State’s access to skilled workers, from skilled migration, investment in the care sector and boosting workforce participation to targeted incentives to encourage retirees back into the workforce.”
As stated by Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery:
“We have been working closely with industry and have invested in an extensive range of initiatives to address the skills needs of our State.
“These latest changes are about making it easier for people to migrate to WA on skilled migration visas.
“They are targeted changes that are focused on attracting more skilled migrants to the State in the short-term, and will be reviewed as the State’s skills challenges ease.
“Training local residents to work in priority skilled areas remains our number one approach in the long-term.”
