In August, nearly 13,000 overseas workers received invitations to apply for permanent technical visas, which is the largest round of invitations since the epidemic. It is aimed at key areas with large demand for talents. More than 1/4 of the invitations received follow-up applica

(Photo: Photo by Huang Yi, a reporter from Ocean Media)

[Australia.com compiled and reported] In order to fill the national skills shortage, the federal government has "spread a bigger net" overseas, making it easier for general practitioners, teachers, early educators and elderly care nurses with lower English mastery, less experience or lower qualifications to apply to work in Australia.

" Sydney Morning Herald " reported on the 9th that the scores required by various professionals to receive invitations were greatly reduced. The score threshold for general practitioners and middle school teachers to apply for visas has dropped from 90 points to 65 points, and the score required for preschool teachers and and elderly nursing nurses has also dropped from 85 points to 65 points. In August, nearly 13,000 overseas workers received invitations to apply for permanent technical visas, which is the largest round of invitations since the epidemic. It is aimed at key areas with large demand for talents. More than 1/4 of the invitations received follow-up applications, and applicants are mainly concentrated in the health industry.

promised to increase the annual permanent immigration cap from 160,000 to 195,000 after last month's employment summit. In addition, the government has invested a lot of resources to accelerate the processing of visa applications, and from June to mid-September, nearly 2 million visa applications were processed. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Home Affairs said that since 2019, the score for each factor has remained unchanged, and the "qualification score" - 65 points have also remained unchanged, where overseas workers can submit their interest in technical independent visas and technical work area visas.

This move has raised concerns about exploitation, and some workers in related fields have the wrong impression when entering Australia that they are eligible for the job they want, but they do not meet the additional requirements made by professional registration agencies. Annie Butler, secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, said the federation was concerned that the government would make it easier for workers who might not fully meet the professional registration requirements to enter Australia.

's annual skill priority list released last week showed that the number of talent shortages in Australia has risen from 153 to 286 over the past year. Employers released 301,000 job advertisements for career vacancies in August, a year-on-year increase of 37%. Registered nurses are in the highest demand, and the elderly care sector has been in a state of extreme shortage of people, and the industry warns that some nursing homes will have to close unless tens of thousands of staff can be found. (Compiled by Wang Yuqing)

Edited by Wang Xiaoxiong