Making Australia’s economy more productive is a focus of this year’s budget which funds new measures to help businesses access skilled workers and enable people to have their skills recognised more easily and find jobs faster.

The migration program will be recalibrated to better align it with Australia’s skill and workforce needs. Net Overseas Migration will be reduced, permanent migration levels maintained, onshore skilled migration prioritised, the points test overhauled, and migration system integrity strengthened.

The most consequential long-term reform is likely to be the overhaul of the points test for permanent migration. This is the first major redesign since 2012 and will affect many people over the next decade.

These measures are relevant to employers of skilled workers, skilled visa applicants, skilled migrants and international graduates as well as skilled migration assessing authorities.

Budget snapshot

• Net Overseas Migration: Forecast to continue decreasing from 295,000 in 2025-26 to 245,000 in 2026-27 and 225,000 by 2027-28.
• Permanent migration program: Maintained at 185,000 places for 2026-27, unchanged for three years.
• Skill stream focus and onshore preference: Over 70% of the permanent program places are allocated to the Skill stream, with around 70% reserved for migrants who are already in Australia. This will place downward pressure on Net Overseas Migration.
• Migration points test overhaul: Major redesign announced, with transitional arrangements to honour existing invitations.
• Improving migrant skills recognition and assessment: $85.2 million over 4 years to modernise trade skills assessment and licensing pathways and strengthen oversight of assessing authorities for all occupations including accounting.
• Strengthening migration system integrity: $167.4 million over four years to improve workers’ awareness of safeguards, protections and migration law compliance measures, and enhance scrutiny of student visa applications.
• Working Holiday Maker program: Expanded use of ballots to manage program numbers more fairly and better align with Australia’s labour market needs.
• Visa application fees: Student visa application fees remain unchanged. However, the temporary graduate visa application fee doubled from 1 March 2026 (excluding Pacific Island and Timor-Leste applicants) and was not adjusted in this budget.
• Skills and training: $2.9 billion in 2026-27 for state skills and workforce development, largely continuing funding under the National Skills Agreement and fee-free TAFE arrangements. Jobs and Skills Australia will receive $35.2 million over 4 years from 2026-27, plus $9.1 million ongoing annually, to advise on labour market, skills and training needs. CA ANZ contributes member insights to JSA’s consultations to help inform government policy.

What else do I need to know?

Migration points test review

An independent review of Australia’s migration system between 2022 and 2023 found that the current permanent migration points test is not designed to identify applicants with the best potential to contribute to Australia over the long term. It also found that the skilled migration occupation lists are outdated, lack a strong evidence base, and do not reflect current or forecast skilled labour needs.

CA ANZ’s submission to the Department of Home Affairs in May 2024 made recommendations to address these issues. We will engage in the consultation on the points test, which is expected to begin by the end of June, before a legislative instrument is finalised later this year.

Improving migrant skills recognition and assessment

Most of the new funding will focus on trade occupations. If the trades pilot is successful, the model may be expanded later to other occupations including accounting. CA ANZ has advocated for and supported better recognition of skills, prior learning and workplace-related training in our submissions to Treasury and the Productivity Commission.

Aligning education with skill and workforce needs

Ensuring that education, skills and training align with job needs is essential to lift Australia’s workforce productivity, as is providing equitable access to affordable, quality education.

University students with relevant TAFE qualifications will benefit from quicker degrees through a National Credit Recognition Framework.

However, the budget did not include any additional student debt relief or announcements on the new higher education funding reforms that will be led by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. CA ANZ will continue to advocate with the government to make accounting study costs fairer and more affordable, reduce student debt, and better support Australia’s skill and workforce needs.