From skilled visas to ballots: How Australia's migration changes could unfold in 2025
Australia reformed its migration system in 2023 to end "permanent temporariness"—long-term stays via visa hopping. The changes aim to raise international education standards, prevent exploitation, and better target skilled migration. Experts like Ben Watt and Abul Rizvi say the reforms are positive but mostly fine-tune the system, with permanent visa numbers staying largely unchanged.
There were big changes for parts of Australia's migration system last year as the government moved to stop the drivers of what it calls "permanent temporariness" among visa holders.
The long-awaited strategy followed a review of the migration system, released in December 2023, and also aimed to lift standards in international education, tackle exploitation and target skilled migration to the country's shortages.
For Ben Watt, a registered migration agent and lawyer, the Albanese government "said what they were going to do, and they've very much done it".
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"The end of permanent temporariness is a brilliant move, and I think the changes they've made are good," he told SBS News.
'Permanent temporariness' refers to long-term temporary stays, often driven by 'visa hopping' — where people stay in the country for years by shifting between visa types.
While Watt thinks the reforms are broadly positive, he argues some will work to "fine tune" the system instead of resulting in major change.
"At the end of the day, with all this discussion ... the amount of permanent visas is staying about the same," he said.
Abul Rizvi, a former deputy secretary at the Department of Immigration from the early 1990s to 2007, agreed this is a concern.
