G’Day UK 2009 kicks off this weekend delivering two weeks of food, wine, cultural and business events.

Top of the list will be Australian immigration and tourism which will be sold to Brits interested in making the move Down Under.

Being a major source of skilled workers and tourists for Australia, organisers of G’Day Week have targeted the UK to showcase Australian immigration and Australian tourism.

G’Day UK 2009 is a chance for Australian celebrities, governments, businesses and agencies to show off the sunshine in Australia. Two week’s worth of events will showcase Australia as a place of investment, tourism, business, and more importantly, as a prime destination for skilled migrants. Read the full story

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The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) has warned the government that work on infrastructure projects will be difficult to accomplish following the decision to put restrictions on the skilled migration program.

While the MIA welcomed the Australian immigration ministers decision to increase the number of humanitarian and family reunion Australian visas for the 2009/10 Migration Program, they were less than impressed with the decision to remove a number of trade-level occupations from the skilled occupation list.

“The MIA awaits with great interest to see how the Government proposes to administer the new job-readiness criteria for trade occupations. It’s hard to imagine a one-size-fits-all assessment system of employability,” said Maurene Horder, CEO of the Migration Institute of Australia. Read the full story

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A world-wide survey has found that Australia has been voted the best place for business during the economic downturn, meaning that all those emigrating to Australia will benefit from greater investment security and a stronger economy during the recessionary and recovery period.

As we reported earlier this year, the government restricted the Australian skilled migration program so that fewer people are emigrating to Australia during the recession. Despite this, the program remains at significantly high levels, with 108,100 places for skilled migration to Australia, and the government has sufficient reasons for doing so.

While other countries such as the UK are deeply entrenched in the recession, Australia seems to be fairing well and are even tipped to come out stronger than before. Read the full story

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As we mentioned yesterday, the Federal Government released their budget last night so instead of going through the reams of data coming out of the budget line by line and boring you to death, I thought I’d provide a very (sky) high summary of some of the key points which may be of interest to folks looking to one day call Australia their new home

The Federal Government has estimated Australia’s deficit will increase to $58 billion in 2009-10 and reach a total of $219 billion in the five years to 2012-13, due to a combination of reduced economic growth, decreased tax revenues, and initiatives to stimulate the economy.

The Government has predicted the Australian economy will contract by 0.5% in the 2009-10 financial year, but will be growing again by 2010-11. Read the full story

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The Rudd Government is going to announce its latest budget tonight with an expected deficit of about $60 billion most likely making the biggest headline.

For those looking at making the move down under however, the slashing of a further 7000 places from the general skilled migration intake will be the news that hurts the most!

The cut will take the general skilled migration intake for the next financial year to 108,000.

Added to the decision in March to axe 18,500 places, the total reduction of 25,500 will constitute a 20 per cent cut to the program. Read the full story

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Following the news we posted on Friday about Important changes to Australian skilled-sponsored visas for ACT and NT. It looks like the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and the Northern Territory (NT) governments are at it again with a number of amendments to their skilled occupations lists being announced.

After removing five occupations as part of the announcements last week, the ACT has removed a further two occupations and added another.

Prospective migrants immigrating to Australia through the ACT skilled-sponsorship program as a fitter, metal machinist, metal fabricator, welder first class, sheet metalworker, surgeon or speech pathologist will at this point of time no longer be able to lodge an application through this programme. Pressure welders can now participate. Read the full story

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I’ve just read an interesting article posted by the Australian Newspaper about the number of extra workers required if Western Australia is going to continue to grow at its current rates.

Apparently an extra 400,000 workers will be needed in Western Australia over the next 10 years if the state is to reap the full benefits of the economic boom.

Despite an increase in the Skilled Migration quota for the 2007 – 2008 year, I’m really not sure where WA is going to find all these people.

Despite the fact that there are “770 people flooding into the State each week” its only a matter of time before this influx of new migrants starts to have a counter productive effect. Read the full story

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Good news for people looking to emigrate to Australia under one of the Skilled Visa Classes.

According to a media release made on Wednesday, Australia is issuing more Australian visas to skilled migrants than ever.

The level of migration for 2007-08 will be set at a whopping 152,800 places. This includes an increase of 5,000 places in the Skilled Migration Stream (SMS), with a total of 102,500 places.

The increase reflects the labour shortages being experienced by Australia in many highly skilled job sectors.

This year’s Australian visa quota also reinforces the Australian government’s focus on strengthening the economy by keeping pace with the demand for skilled workers.

This is good news for wannabe migrants interested in Australian immigration who have work experience and sound English language skills that will enable them to get an Australian skilled visa.

More Australian visas were issued to IT professionals (4,290) in the nine months to March 31st 2007 than during the entire previous year, according to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The number of visas is heading for an increase of 35 per cent this year.

Australian visas issued to the spouses and partners of skilled migrants have also increased. During the 2006-07 year the number of partner visas in the family scheme was increased by 4,000 places. The minister announced that this level (a total of 50,000 places) will be maintained in the Migration Programme for 2007-08. The increased mobility of young professionals has created a higher demand for partner visas.

Part of the reason for the increase in visas is the country’s solid economic performance. Australia’s economy grew by 2.8 per cent in the final three months of 2006, fuelled by increasing household spending and a mining boom benefiting from higher commodity prices.

It makes you wonder how many people will now qualify following the changes to the general skilled program which comes into effect from next month though. I also hope that the Aussie government has taken into account the impact a surge of skilled workers may have on the house prices here in Australia.

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The following is the text of the Minister’s announcement for the budget of changes to the skilled migration program.

It should be read with her announcement on Monday of the points and technical changes foreshadowed to the skilled migration program arising out of the evaluation program

I’ll put that in a separate post. Strangely, the release is dated 1 May but must have been embargoed until Budget Night, which is why it only turned up this morning.

Government Successfully Matching Skilled Workers to Employers

As issued by Minister on Monday 1 May 2006

On the back of a record jump in migration of 20 000 extra places in the Skill Stream this programme year, the Howard Government will maintain the Skill Stream at that increased level through 2006-07.

Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Amanda Vanstone, said with the 2005-06 programme still to be completed, it was impossible to accurately identify the impact of last year’s 20 000 increase for this financial year.

Consequently, it would be imprudent to have a further jump in the Skill Stream until we are sure of the impact of the additional 20 000 places’s Senator Vanstone said.

This year we have worked extremely hard to increase the proportion of skilled migrants sponsored by employers or States and regions.

We have done this by matching skilled migrants with employers through a number of avenues including skills expos, both onshore and offshore; the availability of Regional Outreach Officers; and for the first time this year Industry Outreach Officers, who we have seconded to key industry groups, to support employers.

Employer sponsored migration is up 22 per cent from the same period (July-March) in the previous programme year putting it at record levels in 2005-06. In the nine months to the end of March some 12 000 employer sponsored visas were granted.

Growth in state sponsored and regional migration (SSRM) visas is up 50 per cent over the same period.

As well the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) has proven a vital tool. The number of the Skill Stream intake with occupations on the MODL, including their families, will increase four-fold to almost 40 000 people in 2005-06 compared to approximately 10 000 in 2004-05.

The figures demonstrate that we are matching skilled migrants to areas of need to a greater extent than ever before, Senator Vanstone said.

This is why these migrants are performing exceptionally well in the labour market. We intend to further refine that matching in the upcoming financial year.

The Migration Programme concentrates on the skills that business and industry are looking for but will also meet legitimate close family reunion needs.

“There will be a modest increase in the size of the Family Stream, up 1000 extra places to 46 000. The 1000 extra places will be available for spouse visas. This is on top of an extra 3000 places added to the planning levels for this year, with a total of 37 300 spouse visas in 2006-07.

The increased demand for spouse visas is driven by two main factors “ the increasing global mobility of young Australians and the larger sponsorship base created by the increased skilled migration intake.

Recent research shows that spouse migrants (many of whom are young and skilled) are also performing well in the labour market with high employment and participation rates. This is a good news story.

The total migration (non-humanitarian) programme for 2006-07 in the range of 134 000 to 144 000 places. This will comprise 97 500 places in the Skill Stream and 46 000 places in the Family Stream.

To ensure our Migration Programme remains world class the Government commissioned an evaluation of the general skilled migration visa category by some prominent Australian academics, Senator Vanstone said.

The evaluation report will be released shortly and the Government will consult with industry and other stakeholders on the recommendations.

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