2023-04-27 08:02:02
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia will end a decade-long freeze on the minimum wage for skilled migrant workers as part of reforming what the government described Thursday as a broken immigration system that fosters exploitation and favors arrival of low-paid employees instead of filling the shortage of skilled labor.
“What’s left is a system where it’s increasingly easy for migrants to come to Australia looking for low-paying work, but harder for migrants with the skills we desperately need,” said the Home Secretary. , Clare O’Neil. “One of the reasons why there is so much (labor) exploitation in Australia is because we have allowed low-wage migration programs to operate in the shadows.”
For years, the country has had one of the highest immigration rates in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But the migrant labor that used to settle permanently there is now increasingly temporary.
A previous government froze the Income Threshold 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 dollars) will apply from July 1, O’Neil explained.
“Some 90% of full-time jobs in Australia pay more than the current TSMIT, undermining Australia’s skilled migration system,” the government said in a statement on Thursday.
The Australian economy is “mirrored in productivity stagnation” that migrant workers might help resolve, O’Neil said.
All skilled temporary workers in the country, many of whom had become “permanent temporary migrants” and maintained their status for years thanks to various visas, will have a clearer way to obtain permanent residence at the end of the year, he added.
In an act at the National Press Club, O’Niel criticized the outdated lists of preferred occupations, alleging that they no longer reflect the needs of the economy or emerging technology industries, among other aspects of the previous government’s immigration system.
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