Australia wasting migrant talent on an “industrial scale”, former Treasury secretary says
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-02/permanent-migrants-skills-wasted-in-australia-martin-parkinson/106519816
Australia wasting migrant talent on an “industrial scale”, former Treasury secretary says
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-02/permanent-migrants-skills-wasted-in-australia-martin-parkinson/106519816
16 Comments
I’m still confused as to why you can get a skills shortage visa if your skills aren’t recognised when you’re in the country. This seems like a pretty big flaw in the system.
“But if we got the full output of all the
migrants we have, we wouldn’t need to import as many” taps head.
This is true. A lot of migrants are under employed because they can’t get past the industry gatekeepers.
Yay, another Treasury neoliberal desperately trying to pump up the housing market with propaganda.
So we should just lower all our educational and professional standards so we can keep importing people we can’t house?
“but they’ll take our jerbs!”
This should be factored into immigration- do you really want a dr, specialist, surgeon, nurse etc that wasn’t properly trained in their home country looking after you in hospital? I had a fantastic Indian nurse who was a dr in India but he said it was too expensive to upgrade to be a dr in Australia so did a nurse bridging course. If you want to work in a profession in Australia and we need your skills, the immigation and bridging process should be free with the proviso you work in thst industry for 10 years or something. Not this bullshit going on now whete they want to lower standards or bring people in knowing they cannot utilise their skills in Australia.
Reminder that these policies have a single purpose – to put downward pressure on wages in Australia.
Not just migrant talent… all talent
>Australia is wasting human talent on an “industrial scale” by failing to recognise the skills and qualifications of highly trained permanent migrants
Probably because companies have to make sure their skills and qualifications are actually legitimate. There are plenty of people who have come here for work and are getting caught having fake degrees and certificates on a weekly basis.
The problem is that Australia grants skilled visas to people who, while they may demonstrate excellent English, strong skills, and experience, don’t have jobs in the country, and that’s a problem for everyone. If an engineer from India drives for Uber, in many cases it’s not because they want to; they just have to do something while they look for their opportunity. There should be a system where skilled visas are only granted to workers with guaranteed sponsorship, and a new visa, like in Germany, that allows you to stay in the country for a few months looking for work. If you don’t find a job, you have to leave.
The same applies to graduates. If they can’t find work in a short time, they should leave. If the market doesn’t want them, perhaps it’s because it doesn’t need them, or because there are more qualified locals, or because they lack the skills that Australia requires. After all, anyone can get a degree, but having a job is much more than just a degree, and that’s true all over the world.
Yes, Australia does a lot to maintain its stupidity
It’s because the government selects people to be granted permanent residency to. The government has no idea which applicants would be successful here. And the reason why the government does this is because industry groups lobby them to – Karen from HR doesn’t want to deal with visas and sponsorship. So you get a system where ~200k people are granted permanent residency every year, some of them are already working in Australia in their areas of specialisation so no issues there, but many who are setting foot into the country for the very first time in their lives, and no one wants to hire them (oftentimes, I daresay, for good reasons)
Australia wastes the skills of passport holders who built those skills overseas and might want to return.
The country cares about foreign prestige, but not about foreign expertise. Your best option is to live your career outside Australia and only return once you have your name in the business news and can get a high paying, do nothing job in Australia off the back of the cargo cult mentality for industry, as a kind of early retirement.
Or hear me out we can give better trades training to the citizens of our own country
I’ve met so many engineers from India who are driving trucks in Australia.
Love the inclusion of the 44% stat. It is basically meaningless by itself.
What is the number for the general population?
Notice it doesn’t say 44% of primary applicants on skills visas. It is including all permanent residents, not just those on skill visas.
Example. A doctor is the primary applicant. He is more than qualified. He has a wife who has a university degree but struggles with english. As such she isn’t able to work in an industry that uses her qualifications. Together they count as 50% working in under qualified positions. Is this a waste?