Australian Immigration Daily News

A newly published study about labour funded by Australia’s federal government has shed light on women who immigrate to Australia on Partner Visas. As we know, Partner Visas are granted to people if their spouses already have an Australian skilled immigration visa. Many of the women who come to Australia through these visas are highly skilled, with great education and professional experience. Research has shown however that they are not really participating in the work force. The government researchers who did the study say that with more government support they can be a great asset to Australia.

Skilled labour immigration’s advantages

The skilled labour that comes to Australia through immigration provides a lot of benefits to Australia. The local economy is not saturated with job seeking people.  This means there are many posts for which skilled labour is required. The immigrants study in their own countries and also gather a lot of professional experience in their own countries.

When they immigrate to Australia because of their skills, they immediately begin to benefit the local economy and society. This is a huge benefit because Australia gains a skilled and experienced person, without really having to invest in their education or upbringing. Someone who has never used anything from the local economy just arrives to enter the workforce and increase productivity.

Involving the Women as well

One key difference which may be holding the women back is that they are not used to being a society as open and inclusive as Australia. Many of the women come from countries where women are not welcome in the workforce; in some countries women don’t have full rights and often face harassment if they choose to enter the workplace. There are no such barriers in the workplaces in Australia, but apprehensiveness on the women’s part keeps them away from entering the workforce anyway. However, some immigrant women have also complained that they were having trouble finding good jobs here, which is a problematic situation.

Underutilized skills

Increasing the number of immigrant skilled women in the workforce will be a huge advantage for Australia. According to the study there are more than 157,000 women who came to Australia between 2010 and 2015 on partner visas.  In total there are 181,000 women in Australia who are immigrants and are highly skilled. Their stark absence from the workforce has been noted by the government. The government funded this study in order to see why this group was so underutilized and how the situation can be improved.

Looking Forward

A spokeswoman for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet said “The department supports the report's recommendations in principle, including practical interventions to support women partner migrants to gain employment, piloting an early intervention program and producing information to help migrant women find jobs,”. The fact that the government is actively monitoring the situation and trying to improve it means that we might see the situation become better over time.