|
IMPORTANT: Cuts to Migration Program and GSM processing as at 16/3/09
Minister Evans has today announced cuts to the 2008-09 permanent skilled migration program by 14 per cent "to protect local jobs while ensuring employers can access skilled professionals in industries still experiencing skills shortages".
The changes are a 14 per cent cut in the 2008-09 permanent skilled migration program intake [from 133 500 to 115 000], and changes to the Critical Skills List (CSL).
The Minister's announcement said that occupations removed from the Critical Skills List include Bricklayers, Carpenters, Plumbers, Welders, and Metal Fitters, and that the list will now comprise mainly health and medical, engineering and IT professions.
The new Critical Skills List is now being used by DIAC, but has not yet been made public CMS will endeavour to update the following pages weekly .
As soon as the new CSL is released CMS will post onto this Website.
The Minister has stated that "The Critical Skills List will remain under constant review and the Government will remove occupations from the list if demand for those skills can be satisfied by local labour."
We can therefore expect the Critical Skills List to be under continual review and changes can be expected at any time, depending on current economic circumstances
On the 25th of February the State Migration Centre [SMC] changed the criteria for sponsorship under the 886 Graduate Skilled Sponsored Visa. Applications from graduates who have completed their studies outside Western Australia will no longer be accepted by the SMC. This change was put into effect in view of the current global economic downturn. For further details regarding the new criteria go to; http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/?page=skilled-migration
The Skills in Demand and Priority Skills List have been replaced by the Western Australian Occupations in Demand List (WAOIDL).
The WAOIDL list identifies skills that are in demand for industry sectors throughout Western Australia including regional locations and the Perth metropolitan area. To view the WAOIDL go to; http://www.migration.wa.gov.au/?page=occupations-in-demand |
