The government is being urged to look at improving work rights for people on bridging visas already in Australia, and not to neglect the backlog of humanitarian visas amid calls for an increase to the skilled migration intake.
There is widespread expectation the government will boost Australia’s skilled migration intake from around 160,000 people a year to 200,000 people, with consensus among unions and industry that the cap needs to be lifted.
But the government is also considering fast-tracking permanent residency for many visa holders already in the country to help address chronic workforce shortages and to prevent temporary visa holders from leaving the country.
The call to look beyond just a boost to the skilled migration program came as the Refugee Action Collective planned a protest at the office of the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, on Thursday, demanding he immediately grant permanent visas to all refugees and asylum seekers on temporary, bridging and expired visas.
Ahead of Thursday’s jobs and skills summit, the Labor MP Julian Hill said the focus on skilled migration must not detract from the need to deal with a massive backlog of humanitarian and partner visas, while the independent MP Monique Ryan called for greater work rights for asylum seekers on bridging visas.
Hill raised his concerns after two migrants who had come to Australia as refugees from Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2019 went on a hunger strike at his electorate office amid frustration at the department’s delay in processing a family reunion visa.
According to the Department of Home Affairs, the processing time for partner visas ranged from two years to almost four years for 90% of applications.
After the fall of the Afghan capital Kabul to the Taliban, Australia had received more than 40,000 visa applications covering more than 200,000 people, with only 6,000 permanent visas so far granted.
Hill criticised the former government for stripping back resources amid the unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and said there would be no quick fix for visa-processing times.
However, he raised concern that the industry push for an increase to skilled migration may see the department’s limited resources diverted “at the expense of actual human lives and families”.
“The skills summit is critically important, skilled migration is critically important, but our policy and our processing focus on skilled migration must not come at the expense of the backlogs in partner visas and priority humanitarian visas for families of Australians,” Hill told Guardian Australia.
“We need to walk and chew gum at the same time, and the only option is in this budget to put real resources back into visa processing and deal with this horrific mess that the Liberals have left us.”
Ryan was pushing for the government to improve the work rights for people living in Australia on bridging visas, saying there were “no consistent or clear rules regarding working rights for people on bridging visas”.
There were an estimated 330,000 people in Australia currently on bridging visas.
In addition, she said the 20,000 people on temporary protection visas (TPVs) and safe haven enterprise visas (SHEVs) should be given permanent residency as a matter of urgency.
“Australia needs to relinquish our punitive attitude to this community and adopt a pragmatic and generous approach. It is in everyone’s best interest,” Ryan said.
The Settlement Council of Australia also called for more focus on helping people already in Australian on temporary visas transition to permanency, saying the current process could take up to four years and was “filled with anxiety and uncertainty”.
Giles said the jobs and skills summit and the roundtable discussions held over recent weeks had provided “an opportunity for government to engage in a conversation with businesses, unions and those with a diverse range of experiences across the country about how to best go about this vital work.”
“This government is focused not only on clearing the backlog left by the former government, but restoring immigration as a nation-building function of government, that recognises the importance of immigration and our humanitarian program to Australia’s identity.”
