Let us look at the key takeaways on Australian immigration following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

January 6, 2023
Posted by: ASIFCONSULTING
Categories: General, News Update

The report sheds light on migration to Australia after the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEY POINTS

The pandemic cost Australia nearly 500,000 migrants.
International students driving migration rebound.
Migration to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022-23.

A recently published report warns that although migrants are now returning to Australia in droves since the COVID-19 pandemic has ended however border closures will leave Australia’s population older and smaller than predicted.

The annual statement which is to be released on Friday by the Centre for Population is expected to shed new light on post-pandemic Australia and provide evidence that COVID-19 will cost Australia around 500,000 migrants over the period of the next four years.

At the same time, Treasurer Jim Chalmers also warned that Australia is still facing a major labor and skills shortage that was further worsened by the decade of migration policy chaos and under-investment in skills and training under the former government combined with the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also said, “[But] Australia’s migration settings need to be sustainable, serve Australia’s national interest, and not be a substitute for training and building the capacity of our domestic workforce”.

Here are the key takeaways.

Population growth now has a Canberra-sized hole in it due to the pandemic

The travel restrictions implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in Australia losing 85,000 people, leaving Australia’s current population older and smaller than expected. Although the country is showing signs of slowly recovering the pandemic has still cost Australia 473,000 migrants by 2025-26.

Angela Knox the migration expert from the University of Sydney finds this predicament worrying due to the country’s reliance on overseas workers and claims that this problem is mainly caused due to their own policies and for not financially aiding foreign skilled workers during the pandemic and instead sending them back.

Migration returning to pre-COVID levels

As to be expected the moment Australia opened its borders there was a sharp increase in the number of immigrants. It is estimated that between 2021-22 the net number of immigrants would increase by 150,000 and between 2022-23 the net arrivals will increase by 235,000 which would put the number of immigrants around pre-pandemic levels.

Student influx a major boost

All international students that previously had to study online during the pandemic are now traveling to Australia in droves resulting in the number of international students jumping to 122,000 between the time period of December 2021 till October 2022.

Government scrambles to plug migration gaps

Due to the high labor shortage that occurred during the pandemic, Australia now has a strong hiring climate and is greatly increasing its annual intake of skilled immigrants. The annual intake has been increased from 160,000 to 195,000 immigrants and the migration system has also been made simpler and more efficient for the use of potential immigrants.

Australia is now highly reliant on migration to support its economy but Mr. Chalmers states that they should try to find solutions other than migration for this issue. At the same time, professor Knox also warns that Australia is still not effectively utilizing what the country already has since a large portion of the labor force which includes younger and older workers, women, and disadvantaged workers are underemployed.

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