Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Technicians and Trades Workers continue to be eligible for independent skilled migration under the points test implemented on 1 July 2011.

The policy rationale behind the reforms to the skilled migration program was to realign the program to be more responsive to labour market demand for skills in Australia. The skilled migration program is made up of a number of different categories designed to meet Australia's diverse labour market needs. The reforms in recent years have emphasised employer sponsored skilled migration, providing more places in the program for skilled migrants sponsored by an employer into a skilled job. The Continuous Survey of Australia's Migrants shows that employer sponsored permanent migrants have the best rates of skilled employment out of the different migration categories. Employer sponsorship represents a key pathway for technical and trades applicants, either through the employer nominated scheme (ENS) or regional sponsored migration scheme (RSMS) permanent visa streams, or the 457 temporary skilled stream.

The examples provided refer to points-tested skilled migration, which is one category in Australia's skilled migration program. Applicants in this category do not have employer sponsors and so are required to achieve a pass mark in the points test, which awards points on the basis of key skills and attributes that are indicators of the potential for future success in the Australian labour market. The July 2011 points test has been redesigned to ensure those coming through the points tested categories have the highest level of human capital available, so they are best placed to find work in their chosen fields across all occupations.

(2) Skilled migration is constantly monitored and reviewed to ensure it meets Australia's economic needs. This includes but is not limited to the points test. It also extends to the annual review of the skilled occupation list, as well the annual migration program consultations that inform the decision to set a skilled migration program number. One key tool for managing the points tested categories is the points test pass mark, which can be adjusted by the Minister as economic need dictates.

(3) During consultation on the composition of Australia's migration program for 2012-13, some stakeholders expressed concern about the higher standard of English language required of some skilled migrants under the current points test. While the threshold English language requirement remained the same, additional points were made available for superior English language ability. The importance of competent language skills to settlement in Australia and functioning in the workplace, particularly where the migrant does not already have an employer sponsor, underlies why English language proficiency is a key element of the points test.