A cumbersome and slow migration process in Australia is potentially causing the ‘best brains’ to look elsewhere with some experts saying that Australia is at risk of squandering the benefits of immigration, reports the SBS.

A sustainable migration conference in Adelaide has heard that Australia ‘can't afford to bask in past glories, as the fast changing immigration landscape means Australia faces stiff competition for the pick of the migrants” reports the SBS.

For decades, Australia's carefully planned migration policies have driven economic growth and social diversity - making the country both the desire and the envy of many.

Demographer Graeme Hugo from the University of Adelaide thinks Australia needs to start selling itself better or risk losing migrants to the growing Asian economies.

"There are now a dozen countries in Asia that have their own skilled migration program which competes with Australia. So it is a very, very changed landscape and with the Asian economy going do well and increasing to likely be by the end of this decade about a third of the global economy. This migration is going to increase” says Professor Hugo.

Australia’s migration program has in recent years been steadily skewing toward policies that aim to attract the ‘best and the brightest’. The skilled migration program has been enlarged with the processing largely focussing on streamlining in order to be more responsive and attractive. The question remains whether this will be enough given the emerging international competition to tap on this critical talented human resource.

The Australian paradox is that high unemployment levels are likely to remain despite the projected good economic growth in the coming decades. Experts warn that unemployment levels in Australia “is not a general problem, it's very specific to a particular group of disadvantaged people” and in fact Australia faces a severe labour shortage that could threaten Australia’s future economic growth, reports the ABC.

Low birth rates which is below replacement levels, an ageing workforce, an undersupply of skilled labour and a growing economy will lead to a severe labour shortage in Australia by the end of the next decade, warns one of the world's biggest management consultants. Boston Consulting Group has released a report predicting a shortfall of 2.3 million workers by 2030. The firm says Australia's economic growth risks losing momentum in the years ahead unless the country can find ways to plug the gap.

"One of the primary things we looked at was historical growth rates, and if we look back across the last 10 to 20 years for Australia, look at how we've grown - and it's been between 3 and 3.5 per cent GDP per year - if we project that forward, then Australia is going to be facing a labour shortage, and it's going to hit pretty badly by 2030" says the report.

Boston Consulting Group sees a range of solutions to ensure Australia's future economic growth is not threatened by an undersupply of workers. They include boosting skills training to lift productivity, as well as extending the Government's skilled migration program. The Government has also proposed another remedy - raising the retirement age to 70 by 2035.

Experts note that the economy and employers require high level skills and will need to get them from a well-trained workforces or a skilled migration programme. In contrast to this is the unemployment issue in Australia which experts say is linked to a specific group of people who need to upskill to help the economy.

University of Canberra labour economist Phil Lewis says, "I think our major problem is unemployment in Australia, is not a general problem, it's very specific to a particular group of disadvantaged people...What I would say is that, I think as long as we can find a solution to these people who are poorly educated, left school before Year 12, if we can get them skilled up to basics, generic skills, people skills, numeracy, literacy et cetera, that will go a long way to reducing unemployment."

Australia's Working Holiday Maker visa program which grew by close to 16% last year with the grant of over 258,000 visas, is set to grow more in the coming years with the addition of several new countries over the last year.

Portugal has now become the latest signatory to Australia’s Work and Holiday visa program. On 25 September 2014, Australia and Portugal announced that a new Work and Holiday arrangement for youth mobility was signed, establishing a reciprocal Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) arrangement between our two countries.

This arrangement, when brought into effect, will allow up to 200 young adults from Portugal and up to 200 young adults from Australia to enjoy a holiday in each other's country, during which they may undertake short term work and study.

DIBP’s states says that in the coming months, Australia and Portugal will work closely together to implement the necessary legal and administrative processes to bring this visa into effect. The work and holiday arrangement will not commence until a start date has been agreed by both countries.

When a commencement date has been announced, eligible young adults from Portugal and Australia will be able to apply for this visa.

The Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has introduced a new type of visa to parliament today named the “Safe Haven Enterprise Visa” which will be a visa of a temporary nature will offer similar support as that offered by the Temporary Protection Visas which will be reintroduced six years after they were abolished by the Rudd Government This Bill will also create the Immigration Assessment Authority which would have the purpose of fast tracking and processing the backlog of over 30, 000 current asylum seeker applications leftover from the previous Government.

Titled the Migration and Maritimes Powers Legislation Amendment (resolving the asylum legacy caseload) Bill 2014, the Bill itself amends the Migration Act 1958, the Migration Regulations 1994, the Maritime Powers Act 2013, the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946 and the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act 1977 with the goal being in  order to support and implement the current Government’s strategies for combatting people smuggling as well as implementing policies which will greatly assist in managing asylum seekers both onshore and offshore.

The Bill introduces some key changes to the current approach adopted by Australia in regards to people smuggling and the managing of claims for asylum, namely;

The Federal Court recently ruled that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal failed to observe procedural fairness “by relying on other materials in its decision without giving notice of those materials to the appellant”.

Accordingly the the court allowed the appeal and ordered that the matter be remitted back to the AAT. In the matter a man who was convicted of manslaughter had his visa cancelled by DIBP on character grounds with the AAT subsequently confirming DIBPs decision.

In considering the appeal, the Court rejected an argument by DIBP that it was futile to remit the matter to the AAT because it was likely that the tribunal would arrive at the same decision.

Fijian national Amitesh Jagroop, 32, killed his wife, Nileshni Singh, on the night of her 19th birthday in June 2006 following a heated argument during which he pushed her causing her to fall and hit her head. Jagroop then chose not to call for help, but instead dragged her down an embankment where he left her to die.

Jagroop pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Supreme Court and was jailed for 10 years but reduced on appeal. He was released on parole in 2011 and his visa was cancelled last year. But he has been fighting for more than 18 months to appeal the decision. This week a full bench of the Federal Court ordered the matter return to the Administrative Appeal Tribunal for rehearing.