Australia's Migration Overhaul: Key Updates for 2025

In 2024, significant reforms reshaped Australia's migration system, focusing on addressing temporary skilled migration, enhancing international education standards, and targeting critical workforce shortages. This article explores these changes and their potential impact in 2025, with a clear breakdown of key developments and their implications.

The Australian government revised its permanent migration program for 2024-25, reducing the annual intake to 185,000 places, down from 190,000 in the previous financial year. Key allocations include:

• Skilled Migrants: 132,200 places (71% of the total), featuring:

  
  

  • Employer-Sponsored Visas: 44,000 (up from 36,825).

  • Skilled Independent Visas: 16,900 (almost halved from 30,375).

  • Regional Visas: 33,000 (similar to the previous year).

  • State/Territory Nominated Visas: 33,000 (slight increase from 30,400).

    
    

• Business and Innovation Visas: A combined 5,000 places (down from 6,900) were allocated, marking the closure of the Business Innovation and Investment program and its replacement by the National Innovation Visa.

These updates aim to address labor market demands while maintaining controlled migration levels.

In late 2024, the government introduced a new approach to manage international student numbers, replacing the proposed enrolment cap with Ministerial Direction 111. This directive implements a priority-based processing system:

• High Priority: Applies to up to 80% of a provider’s indicative international student allotment.

• Standard Priority: Covers the remaining applications beyond the 80% threshold.

Additional changes included:

• Eligibility Restrictions: Temporary visa holders, such as those on graduate, visitor, or maritime crew visas, are now barred from applying for student visas while in Australia.

• Fee Increases: Student visa fees rose to $1,600 from $710.

• Financial Capacity Requirements: Adjusted to 75% of the national minimum wage.

• English Language Standards: Strengthened requirements took effect in March 2024.

These measures aim to reduce exploitation, improve quality in international education, and mitigate the practice of “visa hopping.”

Changes to the Temporary Graduate Visa (TGV) program included:

• Streamlining: Reduced from four to three streams:

  • Post-Vocational Education Work.

  • Post-Higher Education Work.

  • Second Post-Higher Education Work.

• Age Limit: Lowered to 35 years, except for master's and doctoral students (up to 50 years).

• Duration of Stay:

  • Bachelor’s Degree: Up to 2 years.

  • Master’s by Coursework: Up to 2 years.

  • Master’s by Research or PhD: Up to 3 years.

The Skills in Demand (SID) Visa replaced the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Visa, introducing three targeted streams:

1. Core Skills: For occupations on the updated Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) with income thresholds aligned to $73,150.

2. Specialist Skills: For high-earning migrants in non-trade roles, with a threshold of $135,000.

3. Labour Agreement Stream: Continuation of existing agreements with potential expansion.

Eligible holders can stay for up to four years, or five years for Hong Kong passport holders.

Replacing the Global Talent Visa, the National Innovation Visa targets high-performing professionals, researchers, and investors. Applicants must submit an Expression of Interest and receive an invitation from the Department of Home Affairs.

The government implemented ballot processes for high-demand visa programs, including:

• Work and Holiday Visas: Available to applicants from China, India, and Vietnam.

• Mobility for Talented Early-professionals Scheme (MATES): Grants up to 3,000 temporary visas annually to Indian graduates in key fields.

• Pacific Engagement Visa (PEV): Provides up to 3,000 permanent places for Pacific nationals annually.

This system aims to ensure fairness and transparency in visa allocation.

Net Overseas Migration (NOM) peaked at unprecedented levels post-pandemic but is projected to normalize in 2024-25. Forecasts include:

• 2024-25: NOM expected at 340,000 (up from 260,000 initially projected).

• 2025-26: NOM to stabilize at 255,000.

These adjustments align with efforts to balance migration rates and address workforce shortages sustainably.