April 2010
Introduction
Universities Australia welcomes the opportunity to provide further input to the Review of the General Skilled Migration (GSM) Points Test (the Review) as outlined in the Discussion Paper released on 15 February 2010 by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC). This supplementary submission is intended to provide additional information regarding matters outlined in Universities Australia's previous submission to DIAC made in response to the "Migration Update 2010-01-14" and is submitted for the purposes of the current GSM Points Test Review.
Universities Australia welcomes the Government's acknowledgement of five key principles underpinning a new Points Test and particularly for the system to not preclude very good applicants from offshore or in Australia, including former international students, or those with high-value attributes such as advanced academic qualifications and high level work experience from achieving the maximum number of points.
The Review is to examine the effectiveness of the current Points Test in identifying potential migrants who will make the optimal contribution in terms of what the Treasury's Intergenerational Report identifies as the three critical elements in addressing Australia's future economic challenges, that is, population, participation and productivity.
Universities Australia has focussed its submission recommendations, on this and on the role of the Points Test in the context of general migration reform and the recognition of the selection factors relevant to meeting the agreed principles of a new Points Test.
Succinctly, highly academically qualified applicants for permanent residence, and especially those with the Australian qualifications that assist settlement, contribute very constructively and clearly to each of population growth, participation and productivity. This must be recognised centrally in Australian immigration selection.
