World Immigration News

Nishiyama Immigration Service
> World Immigration News

(SBS News)Fixing Australia's immigration system is not just about cutting migrants

Release Date
2026-09-12
Media
SBS News
Summary
Australia’s net overseas migration (NOM) surged after the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching a record 547,300 in 2023 before falling to 305,600 in 2024/25. Despite the decline, migration remains above pre-pandemic levels, with temporary migrants accounting for 70% of NOM. The rapid increase has intensified political debate over housing affordability, wages, infrastructure and public services.

One Nation is calling for NOM to be cut to 130,000, mainly by sharply reducing international students, while Labor aims for 225,000 by 2027/28 and the Coalition proposes fewer than 200,000. Experts warn, however, that drastic cuts could produce serious unintended consequences. International students provide substantial revenue to universities, while migrant workers are heavily represented in hospitality, healthcare, aged care, agriculture, construction and regional industries.

Reducing migration could ease rental demand in some major cities, but experts say its overall effect on housing affordability may be limited because prices are also driven by taxation, interest rates and housing supply. Cutting migrant construction workers could even constrain new housing. Regional communities could be particularly vulnerable despite anti-immigration sentiment often being stronger in areas with relatively few migrants.

Experts therefore argue that Australia needs a more targeted migration system rather than simple numerical cuts. Proposed reforms include prioritising skilled and higher-paid migrants, reducing dependence on temporary migration without pathways to permanent residence, imposing time limits on temporary visas and encouraging voluntary departures. The central challenge is balancing migration levels with labour shortages, housing pressures, economic growth, social cohesion and human rights.
Tags
Australia

News Articles including "Australia"

Released on
Article Title
Tags
2026-09-12
Fixing Australia's immigration system is not just about cutting migrants(SBS News)
Australia
2026-08-31
One Nation must push for net-negative immigration after David Farley's numbers slip-up(News 24)
Australia
2026-08-25
Manage immigration numbers with a national summit(The Australian Financial Review)
Australia
2026-08-17
'Profound' consequences: Concern right to work in the firing line amid migration push(SBS News)
Australia
2026-08-01
My highly educated Uber driver’s heartache underscores how transactional Australia’s visa regime has become(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-07-27
Lamenting the end of ‘White Australia’ is wrong and dangerous(Asia Times)
Australia
2026-07-26
Colombians in Australia: Why Thousands Move There and Why It’s Becoming Harder(ColombiaOne)
Australia
2026-07-20
Australia spent more than $9m for each asylum seeker held on Nauru last year – so why can’t they afford to buy food?(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-07-17
Hanson blames end of White Australia policy for ‘immigration problem’(The Australian Financial Review)
Australia
2026-07-12
Hanson says Australia has a ‘language problem’ due to immigration. After arriving with little English, Marziyah is now a lawyer with a mission(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-07-07
Impacts of parental immigration detention and deportation on children and young people revealed in new national report(Australian Human Rights Commission)
Australia
2026-06-25
Religious literacy is essential to Australia’s migration solution(Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Australia
2026-06-23
Abdel-Hady v Commonwealth of Australia(Asylum Seeker Resource Centre)
Australia
2026-06-20
Which parties want to cut migration, and how far would they go?(SBS News)
Australia
2026-06-08
Politicians are challenging party lines on migration, gambling and AUKUS(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2026-05-24
Escapes, fires, stabbing: catastrophic security failures revealed in Australia’s immigration detention network(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-05-21
While rightwing Australia scapegoats immigrants, the country directly benefits from our skills and labour(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-05-14
Budget reply: From tax reform to migrant caps and welfare cuts, here are six takeaways(SBS News)
Australia
2026-05-13
Coalition to link immigration limits to new builds as Taylor says ‘migration has run miles ahead of housing’(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-05-09
Immigration provides tricky policy tightrope in migrant-reliant Farrer(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2026-05-03
Australia's student visa crackdown hits record highs — what it means for who gets in(SBS News)
Australia
2026-04-25
Fifty years on, Lam Tac Tam reflects on life in Australia as the first Vietnamese refugee to arrive by boat(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-04-17
When I hear an Australian politician announce a tough new immigration policy, I think dystopia(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-04-15
The Coalition’s Immigration Policy fails its own --values test--(Refugee Council of Australia)
Australia
2026-04-13
Coalition immigration policy includes social media checks and binding values commitment(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2026-04-03
Australia puts Indian students under highest visa risk tier: Impact decoded(Business Standard)
Australia
2026-03-31
Australia: New Restrictions Introduced for Arrival of Certain Temporary Visa Holders; Iranian Visitors Affected(Fragomen)
Australia
2026-03-27
Enhancing Workforce Strategy With Regional Visa Programs(mondaq)
Australia
2026-03-22
The Australian Way of Life(Quillette)
Australia
2026-03-14
Australia should be generous, not punitive, when it comes to those seeking to escape war(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-03-08
Ability of big business to lobby for unsustainable immigration policies exposes 'undemocratic' nature of Australian political debate(CIC News)
Australia
2026-03-02
Australia’s offshore detention program unlawful and cost-inefficient, HRW says(JURIST news )
Australia
2026-02-27
Why is Australia let off the hook when it presents a bigger target than Europe?(Lowy Institute)
Australia
2026-02-20
Pauline Hanson is already distorting policy and politics on immigration. It’s threatening to take us down a dark road(The Guardian)
Australia
2026-02-16
Liberal Party divided over policy direction as Angus Taylor plots right-wing political shift(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2026-02-09
One Nation capitalises on anti-immigration sentiment in a housing crisis(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2026-02-06
Staff warn Australia’s immigration detention centres are being “run like prisons” under new private operator(VisaHQ)
Australia
2026-01-29
Canberra faces backlash for handing immigration-detention contracts to US private-prison giant(VisaHQ)
Australia
2026-01-26
Australia Day marked by ‘Invasion Day’ rallies, anti-immigration protests(The Straits Times)
Australia
2025-12-15
US State Dept’s immigration missive to Australia utters two words Liberals are too scared to say out loud(Sky News Australia)
Australia
2025-12-01
Immigration set to be Australia's issue of the summer(The Canberra Times)
Australia
2025-11-30
Anti-immigration has become a hot issue. Here’s why it’s wrong( The New Daily)
Australia
2025-11-16
Coalition pitches ‘affordable and responsible’ energy plan as Ley flags immigration as next policy battleground(The Guardian)
Australia
2025-10-30
Australia’s fragile multicultural consensus under threat(EAST ASIA FORUM)
Australia
2025-10-19
Anti-immigration rallies and counter protests held across the country with lower numbers — as it happened(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2025-09-27
Indians in Australia continue to face racist abuse one month on from anti-immigration protests(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2025-09-22
Unpacking Australia’s anti-immigration protests(AL HAKAM)
Australia
2025-09-15
Liberal Party immigration fight is a battle over how the party wants to position itself(ABC NEWS)
Australia
2025-09-06
Australian neo-Nazi attack on sacred Indigenous site a worrying trend(ALJAZEERA)
Australia
2025-09-01
Australia condemns neo-Nazi-linked rally of ‘hate’ as thousands march against immigration(The Times of Israel)
Australia