A major repair job is in order for Australia's cluttered visa system, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs Andrew Giles said.
Slamming the Coalition for years of wasteful spending, Giles said the nation must become a more competitive destination for workers, adding that joining the race to secure the best foreign workers for Australia will be part of the government's upcoming employment summit, alongside a push to clear the visa backlog.
"There's a huge backlog. It's something that we were conscious of but what has become apparent to me is the extent to which the previous government's neglect of the immigration portfolio has had far-reaching consequences," Giles said.
"There's a huge backlog. It's something that we were conscious of but what has become apparent to me is the extent to which the previous government's neglect of the immigration portfolio has had far-reaching consequences," Giles said.
"The challenge of restarting the immigration program after the effective pause that the pandemic created is something that the previous administration failed to even attempt to deal with."
In order to address this challenge, Giles said faster approvals are required to fill a record 423,500 job vacancies. Businesses have also called for a faster turnaround time, with some put off by the 15-month processing periods for skilled-worker applications. There are now just 96,000 skilled temporary visa holders in Australia, down one third since the start of the pandemic.
Giles' comments came after the Australian Financial Review reported last week that an A$875 million (HK$4.7 billion) budget cut at the Home Affairs Department is set to further blow out the already stretched visa waiting times.
Andrew McKellar, chief executive officer of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said employers were struggling with "protracted" processing times for skilled migrants.
"The current delays just aren't good enough," he said.
However, Giles promised that tackling the backlog and streamlining applications will be the government's "absolute priority." He added: "We can't overstate the importance of this with so many people who have been separated for so long [due to] the pandemic. Those human connections need to be restored."
Retrieved from ：https://www.thestandard.com.hk/section-news/section/11/243385/Visa-backlog-'an-absolute-priority' (7 July, 2022)
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