Parkinson immigration review: very good as far as it goes

May 2, 2023
Approved Immigration Australia

The 190 page Parkinson Immigration Review provides a very good blueprint for the future, considering the limitations placed on it by its terms of reference and timeline. The government has circulated a “Migration Strategy” document for consultation picking up broad concepts in the review’s recommendations. There is much more work to be done to decide on, and implement, the best of this report and to deal with outstanding issues that it was not requested to cover.

What it says

The review had the job of charting the way out of the wreckage left by 10 years of an immigration policy vacuum and poor bureaucratic leadership under the Coalition government.

It focuses largely on economic migration and system efficiency in accordance with its terms of reference, but also canvasses some broader issues. At the top level, it recommends some clear and specific objectives and guiding principles for the immigration program which have been missing for a decade. It looks to a 10 year planning horizon for immigration numbers using “net migration” rather than existing tools. It also suggests that all immigration policy functions be concentrated in one place instead of the current bizarre situation where some visa policy functions have been moved to departments outside the Department of Home Affairs. The role of State and Territory governments in planning is to be reinvigorated.

In terms of the future shape of overall programs, its recommendations aim to shift the balance of the program more towards permanent skilled migration and away from temporary skilled migration. This is to reduce scope for migrant worker exploitation and to achieve better long-term social cohesion.

It looks to sharpen the relevance of the skilled migration program to Australia’s economy and also its efficiency in several ways. These include developing better information on Australia’s current and future skills needs, segmenting the permanent skilled migration program into three new broad tiers as well as improving IT systems, departmental processes and culture in order to accelerate visa processing.

The three proposed skilled tiers are 1. a ‘light touch’ high salary cohort; 2. a ‘mid-level cohort’ 3. A more regulated lower wage cohort in sectors experiencing persistent shortages and which are most at risk of exploitation and displacing Australian workers with similar skills. The third tier involves the most radical change, because it aims to move lower skilled and paid workers out of exploitable temporary visa programs into a more stable permanent residence stream.

There are specific recommended changes to the skill stream, including raising the unduly low temporary skilled migration income threshold (TSMIT), and getting rid of the ineffectual labour market testing regime (LMT). More study is recommended of the unproven Business Innovation and Investment Visa and Global Talent Visa.

There is a swag of recommendations that aim to improve the performance of the international student program. These broadly focus on the ongoing vexed question of the best way for Australia to get the cream of overseas students into the higher quality courses and to achieve better labour market outcomes for those who continue to stay here after graduation. The review also urges the government to stick to the original purposes of the Working Holiday Maker Visa and not allow it to be entirely transformed into a labour visa.

The review’s approach to the intractable problem of long-term visas for the parents of migrants to Australia is to resolve the 40 year long queue by introducing a visa lottery for the places. However since there is no suggestion of a greater number of places, and no reason for demand to slacken, this only seems to solve an administrative problem.

In relation to the holy grail of “simplification” of the immigration system, the review wisely recognises that this is easier said than done. Rather than “big bang” change, it recommends phased examination of legislation, phased improvement of ICT systems and changes to processes – all aimed at improving the client experience. Overall, the system recommended by the review is not inherently simpler, but changes to some policy settings (e.g. labour market testing) and discretionary processes could certainly help a great deal, together with the additional staffing already committed.

Other recommendations include ensuring that the government has good data on outcomes of the migration program and serious evaluation studies so that we know what is working and what is not working.

What the government is going to do and when

Home affairs Minister Clare O’Neil has released a consultation document which outlines the government’s “New Migration Strategy” flowing from the Parkinson review recommendations. The document is open for consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. Final decisions are to be made on the strategy later in the year.

The document implies acceptance of the broad directions of the Parkinson review, but without committing to specific recommendations.

In the meantime the government has decided to lift the temporary skilled migration income threshold (TSMIT) from $53,900 to $70,000 from 1 July 2023. This decision implements a long expected change aimed at keeping a firm floor to the allowable skill levels for temporary visas.

What still needs to be done

Final decisions will need to be made on which recommendations of the Parkinson review will go forward.

The Coalition’s contribution, in the face of recently released figures on extremely high net migration gain, has been to try and brand the government as being in favour of a “Big Australia”. This irrelevantly revives an off-the-cuff remark made by Kevin Rudd over a decade ago. There is nothing in the Parkinson review which inherently raises net migration levels in the future. Nevertheless, current housing shortages require the government to deal with the age old issue of the relationship between housing and immigration and educate the public.

When the government makes its final decisions on the Parkinson review later in the year, there is a massive amount of work to be done on implementation of any new arrangements. This will not produce a perfect system, but restore some coherence of policy and efficiency in administration. Many of the recommendations are in effect “back to the future”. As always, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

Beyond the Parkinson review, there are still many issues to be addressed – examining the failure of immigration compliance functions, the Australian Border Force, the humanitarian program, the asylum system, the review system, settlement programs, multicultural affairs (a separate process has been initiated), timely processing of Australian citizenship applications and the place of Australian citizenship in our society. 10 years of neglect will take two terms of government to rectify.

And then there is the elephant in the room. A revived immigration function can never work effectively as a minor part of a security organisation.

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