Australian Immigration Daily News

Quotes Attributable to Federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus: 

I thank and acknowledge the contribution of survivors of modern slavery who shared their insights. These insights were an invaluable addition to the conference.

Australia has strong criminal offences for modern slavery and the Albanese Government is committed to ensuring Australia’s laws are ready to respond to the changing ways criminals exploit and harm vulnerable people.

We continue to train our frontline responders to identify, disrupt, investigate and prosecute offenders. Australian also has a dedicated Support for Trafficked Persons Program and Human Trafficking Visa Framework.

Source: Supporting-survivors-of-modern-slavery-through-the-criminal-justice-journey.pdf

Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023 - provisions

Source: Fair-Work-Legislation-Amendment----Protecting-Worker-Entitlements-Bill-2023.pdf

Key Statistics

In August 2021, there were 1,639,000 temporary visa holders in Australia, made up of 1,614,000 temporary residents and 25,000 overseas visitors.

Of temporary residents:

- almost four out of five (79%) lived in capital cities

- almost two out of five (39%) had a Bachelor degree or higher

- the most common industry of employment was Food and Beverage Services (12%).

Source: Over-1.6-million-temporary-visa-holders-in-Australia-on-Census-night.pdf

Decades old ICT systems underpinning Australia’s migration system need “urgent modernisation” after years of “systemic underinvestment” and failed “big bang” upgrades after review

The failure of previous large scale reform attempts — most recently the abandoned ‘permissions capability’ platform — have dampened morale of ministers, delivery officers, and service providers, while perpetuating a message that “Government ICT is not worth investing in”, according to the review released Thursday.

It recommended “an integrated program of ongoing investment over several years” and outlined four reform directions. These include establishing a holistic strategy and creating a modular tech ecosystem, while also sustaining and improving existing systems.

The Albanese Government will increase the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) from $53,900 to $70,000 from July 1.

Frozen since 2013, around 90% of all full-time jobs in Australia are now paid more than the current TSMIT, undermining Australia’s skilled migration system.

The new $70,000 income threshold is approximately where the TSMIT should have been if it had been properly indexed over the previous 10 years.

This is the Government’s first action in response to the independent Review of the Migration System led by Dr Martin Parkinson, which found that Australia’s migration system is broken.

The Albanese Government is also announcing that by the end of 2023, Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) short stream visa holders will have a pathway to permanent residency within our existing capped permanent program.

This will provide employers and migrants with more certainty, and will help increase the skill level in our permanent skilled program.

Source: TSMIT-AUD70000-from-1-July-2023.pdf and 

The-Hon-Clare-ONeil-MP-National-Press-Club-Address.pdf and