Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will make it easier for Indians on a student visa and a work and holiday visa to enter Australia, as the country strains under a worrying labour shortage.
For the first time since coming into power, Mr Albanese visited India on Wednesday to meet with the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to improve partnerships between the two nations.
Out of that meeting came confirmations of greater economic, defence and people-to-people ties, including the improved processing of student visa applications due to the sizeable Indian student community in Australia.
“Prime Minister Albanese conveyed to Prime Minister Modi that his government would facilitate the efficient and timely processing of student visa applications for Indian nationals who are offered admission by Australian universities and other vocational training institutes,” both Prime Ministers said in a joint statement on Friday (India time).
The two leaders have ordered relevant officials in either country to operationalise the Work and Holiday Arrangement.
The agreement amended the Work and Holiday visa to extend the number of Indian citizens allowed to work in Australia each year to 1,000 from December 29.
In a bid to better their immigration relationship, Mr Albanese also announced he would expand Australia’s visa processing capability.
This followed the PM’s announcement earlier this week of a new education deal so that “Indian qualifications will be recognised in Australia”.
The bettering of educational and skilled worker partnerships between the countries comes at a time when Australia struggles to mend its worrying labour shortage.
Industry leaders have previously called on a fix to the scarcity of workers plaguing sectors including agriculture, construction, engineering and health.
President of the Engineering Division of Professionals Australia Lindsay Nash said the country was not producing enough skilled workers to meet demand and “migration has a role to play in addressing the skills gap”.
“While the number of engineers trained overseas and seeking to work in Australia is growing, they face significant barriers entering the workforce, including visa-related job restrictions and a lack of local networks,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.
National Farmers Federation Vice President David Jochinke urged the government to help fill the void of worker shortages.
“We used to have a lot of this filled by the holiday worker market which has changed due to some regulatory changes but also Australia being less attractive,” he told Sky News Australia in January.
To wrap up his time in India, Mr Albanese thanked Mr Modi for his “warmth and hospitality” and invited him to visit Australia.
The PM will now head to the United States to engage in discussions about the AUKUS agreement.
