Immigration policy has undergone “unique revolutionary” change over the past 20 years
In the 70s and 80s, the intake of migrants to Australia was largely focused on the non-workforce attributes of the people that were coming here, according to Chris F. Wright, a senior lecturer in Work and Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School.
“In the 1990s that changed in a big way. Much greater focus on attracting higher skilled immigrants to address defined skills needs and bringing people here on a temporary as well as a permanent basis,” he said.
Dr Wright added that this focus on skills has been strongly supported by employers as it has allowed them to more precisely meet their needs. Moreover, it has allowed employers to bring in people with new and innovative ideas.
“Visa regulations have become targeted at people who are high income earners. So migrants, to a much greater extent than in the past and to a greater extent than in other countries, contribute more to the economy by way of taxation than they take in government services.”
Indeed, Australian immigration policy has undergone “unique revolutionary” change over the past 20 years with net economic and social benefits, added Dr Wright.
Australia’s immigration program, which has shifted away from permanent settlement and family reunions, towards temporary and skills based entry, has seen a fivefold increase in arrivals over the past two decades.
However, Dr Wright also said that temporary backpacker type work visas have led to exploitation and require greater regulation.
“For example, if there is to be a visa designed to meet the needs of farmers that’s absolutely fine, but it’s got to be done on a more regulated basis,” he said.
“People coming here need to have their rights protected and they can’t be vulnerable to the extent that they currently are to mistreatment and underpayment.”
Dr Wright also expressed concern about the interaction between skills based immigration policies and policies affecting training programs.
“We’ve seen a large expansion of visas and at the same time, essentially independent of that development, we’ve had a complete change to education and training policies in ways that have made employers a lot less inclined to invest in their workforce,” said Dr Wright.
Instead of being treated as two separate policy areas, governments have got to look at immigration and education and training as complementary arrangements for meeting workforce needs, he added.
