Australia will end a decades-long freeze on the minimum wage for skilled migrant workers, which the government on Thursday described as a broken immigration system that promotes exploitation and seeks to fill shortfalls. favors the arrival of low-wage workers instead. skilled workers.
The previous government capped the income limit for temporary skilled migration (TSMIT) at A$53,900 ($35,600) a year, a figure that hasn’t changed since 2013. The new minimum wage of A$70,000 ($46,300) will come into effect from July 1, O’Neill explained.
The home secretary, Claire O’Neill, said, “What is left is a system where it is easier for migrants looking for low-paid work to come to Australia but harder for the migrants we desperately need.” “Part of the reason why there is so much (labor) exploitation in Australia is that we have allowed low-wage migration programs to operate in the shadows.”
Over the years, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has had one of the highest immigration rates in the country. But migrant workers who used to settle there permanently are now increasingly becoming temporary.
“Nearly 90% of full-time jobs in Australia pay more than the current TSMIT, which undermines Australia’s skilled migration system,” the government said in a statement on Thursday.
O’Neill said the Australian economy is “reflected in productivity stagnation” which migrant workers can help solve.
He said all skilled temporary workers in the country, many of whom had become “permanent temporary migrants” and held their status for years because of various visas, would have a clear path to obtaining permanent residency at the end of the year.
In an act at the National Press Club, O’Neill criticized the old lists of preferred occupations, alleging that they no longer reflect the needs of the economy or emerging technology industries, along with other aspects of the previous government’s immigration system.
