The professions of bricklayer, tiler and chef have been added to the Skilled Occupation List from July, allowing foreign workers in these occupations to apply for a permanent visa without a sponsor.
The federal government has limited the general skilled migration programme at 43,990 over the next financial year. Each of the listed occupations is capped at 6% of the industry’s workforce.
The changes were made following advice from the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency based on labour market, education and training, migration and general economic and demographic data, and stakeholder submissions.
Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Michaelia Cash said Australian residents would always come first.