According to the "Australian Financial Review" report, in order to promote Australia to become the most internationally competitive immigration country, the Labor government is seeking new methods, and there are growing calls to cancel the technical occupation list for temporary and permanent visa applicants. .
Grattan Institute economic policy program director Brendan Coates said: "Occupation lists need to be removed, they don't work and no one can define how to use data to calculate skills shortages in a structured way."
Australian Economic Development Council senior economist Gabriela D'Souza said: "The technical occupation list may be about to be eliminated."
It is reported that job vacancies reached a record 423,000, but due to widespread skills shortages, the elimination rate is not fast enough for companies. In this regard, companies such as Euro Marble, a natural stone supplier headquartered in Sydney, said that if they can find qualified workers, they can take on 30% more workload.
Calling for major reforms to the immigration system (Image source: Australian Financial Review)
Instead, production plans have been disrupted as long visa processing times have limited the company's ability to bring in experienced workers from overseas.
"Skills shortages are one of the biggest pressures facing businesses right now," said managing director Angelos Voulgarakis.
"Delivery times have been extended from two weeks to six weeks. We operate in a high-end niche and in order to deliver the quality our customers expect we will typically source skilled masonry from Italy, Greece or the Philippines."
"In the past Over the past 10 years, we have seen Australian apprentices being attracted to other trades where education and training opportunities are more accessible, making masonry a scarce industry."
It is increasingly difficult for businesses to retain foreign workers due to longer visa processing times. For many visa applicants, the uncertainty and separation from family members is overwhelming. Italian stonemason Valentin Gjoka has been waiting 14 months for a skilled work visa. Meanwhile, his wife and 7-year-old son wait impatiently in Italy to be reunited with him.
In January this year, when Australia reopened its borders, Gjoka briefly returned to Europe to see his wife and children, returning home for the first time in three years.
His employer Voulgarakis said: "We almost lost him several times and if there was a conflict between family and work, he would choose family and return to Italy."
With the unemployment rate falling to a low of 3.9%, and about 400,000 people Across sectors have been calling for massive immigration reform in the absence of working holidaymakers and international students, which has hit the hospitality, tourism and agricultural sectors hardest.
Immigration lawyer Andrew Giles said: "After the epidemic, businesses tried to turn around, but they faced obstacles such as staff shortages and extended visa processing times."
During the epidemic, about half of the staff originally processing visas were responsible for approving travel exemptions. This has caused the median short-term temporary skilled visa processing time to increase from 53 days to 83 days in March.
Home Office figures show a quarter of applications take at least a year to process, with the slowest 10 per cent of temporary skilled visas taking 15 months to process.
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said clearing the visa backlog and supporting the movement of international workers was a top priority. But Coates says processing time is just the tip of the iceberg.
"This should be the government's first priority. But there's a lot more to do after that," he said.
Giles agreed, saying Australia's immigration system is one of the most complex in the world.
It has become a deterrent, especially to selective immigrants. The costs for individuals and businesses are also prohibitive, he said.
"A lot can be done to simplify the system and provide certainty on the path to permanent residency ."
