Australia government to continue cutting pure migration, hiking for minimum wages for skilled workers

The immigration policy of Australia under PM Anthony Albani’s Labor Government will continue to prioritize skilled workers to meet the market needs to curb pure migration. With the re-election of the Labor Party, the country will continue on its route to reduce pure migration, increase salary limit for skilled visa programs and increase visa fee for international students.
The Indian migrant is the second largest in Australia, with residents of more than 8.5 lakh Indian origin by June 2023 – on June 30, 2013, doubled from the number of more than 3.8 lakhs.
However, tight visa criteria have seen the annual visa allocation drop. In 2023-24, only 50,516 student visas were issued to Indian citizens, below 1.02 lakhs in the previous year. Similarly, the number of temporary efficient employment visas issued declined from 27,402 to 18,397.
In December 2023, the Australian government announced that a record of 5.1 lakhs would be reduced to a record within two to two years by implementing hard tests on international students and focusing on high skills related to market needs. In 2024–25 pure foreign migration numbers were estimated to fall to 2,50,000; 2,55,000 in 2025-26 and 2,35,000 in 2026-27.
“We hope to continue the current set of reforms and migration strategy reform agenda in the efficient visa program at a global immigration law firm Firgoman.,
Last December, Australia introduced the ‘skill-in-demand’ visa and changed the earlier rule. This visa offers avenues for ‘specialist’, ‘core’ and ‘essential’ skills businesses. As part of ongoing reforms, the salary limit for main skill businesses will increase from AUD 73,150 to AUD 76,515, while expert skills will increase the skill income limit AUD 135,000 to AUD from AUD 141,210. These changes will affect employers and potential employees, they will need to plan further, adding Liu.
Last year, the Government of Australia failed in its earlier attempt to captivate the student’s intake, however, the increase in visa fees appeared in July, seeming adjacent. The current fee of AUD 1,600 was set in July 2024, which was 125% increase from the last fee of AUD 710. His revised approach includes Aud 400 to increase the application fee for Australian study visa by AUD 400 to stand at AUD 2,000 by AUD 400.