Australia plans to halve migrant intake, impose tougher tests for students

Australia on Monday said it would slash the annual migrant intake from a record high of 510,000 by 50 per cent within two years by imposing tougher tests on overseas students and turning away workers with low skills.

The move could affect Indian students who are planning to go to Australia for higher studies. The Indian-born group recorded the largest increase in population in the country since 2012, according to a recent report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The new migration strategy will demand students pass a stronger English-language test and will require them to prove they are genuine students before they enter the country while making it harder for them to stay if they do not find jobs that help fix the nation's skills shortages, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Australia's net migration will be halved within two years in a dramatic move to slash the annual intake from a record high of 510,000 by imposing tougher tests on overseas students and turning away workers with low skills, the report added.

Australia has more than 650,000 overseas students and an increasing number of them are prolonging their stay by applying to do a second course, with 150,000 of the total being on their second student visa.

The government remains open to more controversial measures, such as a cap on student numbers or higher fees on their visa applications, if the sweeping new plan does not cut the net migration intake to 250,000 by the year to June 2025, the report added.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil will outline the changes on Monday with a pledge to cut the intake to more sustainable levels and act against migrant exploitation without putting at risk the ability to attract workers for jobs that need to be filled, such as in hospitals and aged care.

The government will expand its visa integrity unit for USD 19 million to identify students who do not pass a genuine student test and should be turned away, reflecting concerns that too many drop out of their courses to work.

The new policies also aim to stop visa hopping which allows an overseas student or other visitor to jump from one migration claim to another so they can extend their stay while doing unskilled work.

International Education Association of Australia chief Phil Honeywood said the changes would probably work because the government had ways to turn the tap down as it wanted.

One of these is already in play, where student visas out of South Asia have rapidly declined. All it takes is for the Department of Home Affairs to issue a directive to slow down processing from certain countries and the government will achieve its desired outcome.

Many of those on their second visa choose a lower level of study than their original course so they can remain in the country while keeping their work rights, fuelling government doubts about the safeguards in the system.

As well as the changes for student visas, the government will set up a new skills in demand visa with three levels to encourage more workers with the highest skills while discouraging those with few skills.

Skilled foreign workers with commitments to work in regional Australia will gain the highest priority at the Department of Home Affairs when applications are processed.