Jobs & Money Detail
States amend skills lists
In the wake of the Australian federal government announcing that a number of trade and manufacturing occupations will be removed from the Critical Skills Lists (CSL), some state governments have already followed suit by making changes to their 'in-demand' lists.
The South Australian government has announced that it will be removing some (as yet unidentified) occupations from its in-demand list as of 31st March. It is expected that the occupations removed will be similar to those deleted from the CSL last week (see the news section of www.emigrate2.co.uk to find out more about the CSL changes).
The Tasmanian government has gone even further in its changes, though, suspending its state sponsorship programme until 20th April by which time it says a new updated immigration policy will be in place. According to the Tasmanian state government website, existing applications as of 17th March 2009 will be assessed against the updated policy guidelines.
It seems more than likely that other state governments will also announce amendments to their programmes and in-demand lists in the not too distant future, as Australia seeks to better target the applicants it is most in need of.
Changes to in-demand lists could prove to be a blow to the migration hopes of many. Applicants with state sponsorship have been identified by the federal government as being eligible for fast-tracked processing, along with employer sponsored applicants and those with experience in an occupation included on the CSL. An occupation needs to be included on a particular state's in demand list before an applicant can be sponsored, and some lists include occupations not found on the federal system list.
However, as is the case with the CSL, it is likely that the removal of any occupations will only be a temporary measure until the economic climate in Australia improves. Immigration minister Christopher Evans has already stated that he fully expects immigration levels to bounce back to record highs once the global financial crisis is over.
To read the response of a registered migration agent to the CSL changes, and learn about how the rest of the Skilled-Independent visa system remains intact, visit: http://www.emigrate2.co.uk/news_detail-170.htm