There will be a total of 190,000 places on Australia's 2014/2015 migration programme, which is set annually by the government.
A breakdown of the numbers shows that next year's programme planning levels comprise of 128,550 places for skilled migrants, including employer sponsored, general skilled and business migrants.
There will also be 60,885 places for family migrants sponsored by family members in Australia and 565 places for special eligibility migrants, who include former permanent residents who have maintained close business, cultural or personal ties with Australia.
The migration programme is set by government every year and lists the planning levels for permanent migration to Australia.
While the overall size of the programme remains the same, there have been some changes within each stream. 'Places have been moved into the employer sponsored category, which is designed to meet immediate to medium term skill shortages that remain in some industries and regions. If not addressed, these shortages will reduce economic growth and productivity, ' a spokesman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) explained.
'The skilled independent category has been reduced to ensure fewer migrants are competing directly with Australians for jobs as the labour market is slightly softening and unemployment is somewhat trending upwards,' he pointed out.
'Immediate family reunion has been supported by increases in the partner and child categories, as well as in contributory parent. To maintain the relative proportions of the programme, reductions in the numbers of non-contributory parents and other family visas were necessary,' he added.