Federal Government to make it easier for foreign aged care workers to come to Australia
In low-income industries where there are chronic worker shortages, such as aged care, there will be a different approach, although this will not include creating new visa classes, former Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin...
The Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil has released details of the Government’s new immigration strategy, which aims to make it easier for care workers to get temporary visas to work in Australia and to be prioritised for permanent residency. In an address to the National Press Club last week, delivered the same day that the Government released its 160-page migration strategy paper, the Minister said, “We need to look to create proper, capped, safe, tripartite pathways for workers in key sectors, such as care.”
The Government’s Temporary Skills Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), the minimum rate employers pay temporary skilled shortage visa holders, will increase from $53,900 to $70,000 from 1 July 2023. Workers earning above the threshold will be able to access a streamlined visa application process – but of course this is well above the income most personal care workers earn.
In low-income industries where there are chronic worker shortages, such as aged care, there will be a different approach, although this will not include creating new visa classes, former Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson, who led the migration review, told The Australian. Reforms will also be made to the points system, to make it easier for care workers to gain permanent residency. It’s expected that Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will reveal further immigration changes over the next few weeks to entice more aged care workers to move to Australia to help meet the Government’s incoming 24/7 RN requirements and mandated care minutes.
