A four-year working visa and a path to permanent residency should be offered to international graduates to help solve Australia’s skilled migrant shortage, according to a leading New South Wales think tank.
The Committee for Sydney outlined the proposal to attract international students as part of its federal agenda released Tuesday, ahead of the May election.
The group is also calling for major efforts to boost hosing affordability across the city, bolder action on climate change and a raft of measures to boost female participation in the workforce, including free childcare.
Committee for Sydney chief executive Gabriel Metcalf said that after two and a half years of major environmental, economic and societal upsets, it’s hoped the nation’s leaders were emboldened to attempt real reform.
“Our agenda is largely similar to what it would have been before the pandemic, but we’ve learned some things with more clarity,” Metcalf told the Guardian.
“We’ve seen over the last couple of years, between the bushfires and the floods, just how much the impact of climate change is hitting Sydney and all of Australia.
“We’ve learned more about some of the glaring inequalities. We saw that really vividly during Covid, so maybe there’s a new urgency. I hope so.”
Metcalf said one of the biggest priorities for the federal government needed to be improving the flow of skilled migrants into Australia to ensure Sydney was able to grow after two years with closed borders.
The Committee wanted to see automatic working visas for university graduates, which Metcalf hoped would also make Australia a more desirable choice for overseas students.
“If you were to ask most major businesses today, they would say the number one thing holding them back is the labour shortage,” he said.
“These would be people who’ve spent four years getting to know Australia so they know if they like it, they will have gotten the chance to work on their English skills.
“The solution that is right in front of our eyes is the people who Australia has done a great job of educating. Allow them to remain.”
The committee would also like the use of occupation lists for skilled migrants to be changed to make it easier for businesses to find people they need though the introduction of a wage-threshold test for employer- sponsored permanent visas.
The agenda also lists action on climate change in Sydney’s future property, calling for a proactive economic transition plan away from fossil fuels and a net zero by 2040 target.
