[LINK] National Innovation Visa inviting highly talented migrants

[Stephen Loosley]

Australia launches new visas

National Innovation Visa is by invitation only for highly talented migrants

By Denham Sadler on Dec 09 2024 
https://ia.acs.org.au/article/2024/australia-launches-new-visas.html


The government has launched an invitation-only visa for highly talented 
migrants.

The new skilled visa regime has officially come into force, with the 
federal government launching an invite-only scheme for highly talented 
migrants and a revamped skills list.

Major reforms to Australian skilled visa programs were outlined in the 
Labor government Migration Strategy late last year with the aim of 
bringing skilled migrants to Australia and to fill roles where there are 
no Australians workers available.

The changes, which came into effect over the weekend, include a new 
Targeted Core Skills Occupation List featuring cyber security roles, and 
the Skills in Demand and National Innovation visas.

“As a government we are focused on targeting skilled migration to 
address our workforce needs while promoting worker mobility,” Home 
Affairs Minister Tony Burke said in a statement.

“The new visa program reshapes temporary and permanent skilled migration 
to drive long-term prosperity and supports Australia to attract and 
retain the best and brightest.”

Official list of in-demand occupations

The Core Skills Occupation list is now a consolidated single list with 
450 occupations, including new ones in the cyber security sector.

The list is based on labour market analysis and stakeholder consultation 
undertaken by Jobs and Skills Australia.

It will be used for a number of the new visa programs, Minister for 
Skills and Training Andrew Giles said.

“The Core Skills Occupation List is a key step in ensuring Australia has 
a targeted skilled migration system that addresses genuine skills gaps 
in the economy,” Giles said.

“This is a positive step forward for the future of Australia’s most 
vital workforces.”

The Temporary Skills Shortage visa has now been replaced with the Skills 
in Demand visa, which is split into two streams: Core Skills and 
Specialist Skills.

The Core Skills stream is for filling existing workforce gaps in 
Australia and providing vital services to the community, while the 
Specialist Skills stream is aimed at individuals earning more than 
$135,000 in non-trade occupations.

The visa will provide a streamlined pathway for skilled migrants and a 
simpler process for employers to access these talented workers.

Invitation-only visa

Alongside this will be the National Innovation visa, an invitation-only 
program that aims to bring the “best and brightest to Australia in the 
global race for talent”.

It will be aimed at “nationally important sectors” including critical 
technologies, renewable energy and health”, and replaces the former 
Coalition government’s Global Talent visa scheme.

To apply, an individual must first be invited in writing by the Minister.

Industry Minister Ed Husic said the new program is about securing top 
science and tech talent from around the world.

“We want to ensure Aussie firms have the workers they need, when they 
need them, so they can scale and grow their businesses,” Husic said.

“There’s a global race to attract the best science and tech workers to 
give industry an edge – these new visas put Australia in the best 
position to attract the right people to work hand-in-glove with our own 
world-class researchers.”

The federal government has also scrapped the Prime Minister’s Special 
Envoy for the Global Business and Talent Attraction program.

This position has been vacant since 2020, and less than five visas were 
issued through it since it was introduced.

Additional amendments

Other changes include reforms of the permanent Employer Nomination 
Scheme, and a new category of accredited sponsors for startups that have 
received venture capital funding.

The implementation of the reforms has been welcomed by the Migration 
Institute of Australia.

“The new visa will be critical to addressing short-to-medium-term skills 
shortages in the economy, adding to our economic prosperity and 
benefitting all Australians,” said Migration Institute of Australia CEO 
Peter van Vliet.

The skilled migration reforms were slated in this year’s federal budget, 
alongside a plan to set aside 70 per cent of permanent migration places 
for skilled workers.

This saw the scrapping of the Business Innovation and Investment program 
(BIIP), and the reduction of work experience requirements for the 
Temporary Skill Shortage visa from two years to one.

The BIIP saw the issuing of 11,000 visas from 2020 to mid-2022, but this 
fell to 5,000 spots in 2022-23 and 1,900 in the last financial year.



Denham Sadler Twitter
Denham Sadler is a freelance journalist based in Melbourne. He was 
previously Editor of StartupSmart, and writes on tech and politics. His 
work has been published in The Saturday Paper and The Guardian.