Australia's big changes to its immigration system, visa processing. Details

Australia Immigration: System similar to Canada and Germany will be put into place in Australia to attract more skilled migrants.

Australia is set to significantly change its immigration system with the aim to speed up getting highly skilled workers into the country. Smoothening the process of permanent residency is also one of the key focuses of the plan as the the federal Labor government said that the system used to select skilled migrants will be modified. Currently, the points test is used to choose people with the correct skill sets but this will be changed so that candidates who are better for the Australian economy are included.

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A view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia. (AFP)

"Our migration system ... is broken. It is failing our businesses, it is failing migrants themselves. And most importantly, it is failing Australians. That cannot continue," home affairs minister Clare O'Neil said.

System similar to Canada and Germany will be put into place to attract more skilled migrants as Australia faces the inexorable challenge of an ageing population.

The government also said that the visa process for high-skilled professionals will be made quicker and easier. Steps would be taken to retain international students, it said. Under the new system, temporary skilled visa holders, who had been denied the opportunity to apply for permanent residency, will be able to do that by the end of this year.

In September, Australia raised its intake of permanent migrants to 195,000, up by 35,000, as businesses faced widespread staff shortages. From July 1, the government said that it would raise the migrant wage threshold of temporary skilled workers to A$70,000 from A$53,900, first change since 2013.