The Morrison government will set aside nearly $20 million over the next four years on "outreach activities" and "enhanced" visa processing to encourage more migrants to settle in regional areas.
The funding boost, which was announced in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook on Monday, will be spent on setting up a Regional Migration Hub and expanding the use of special migration programs to help regional employers access skilled migrant workers.
Some of the money will also be spent on “enhanced” visa processing for regional areas.
Online visa system funding
A new digital system for visa applications to Australia will also be initiated where the government will be spending $72.3 million dollars for the "design and initial procurement" of the new system.
The government earlier put the 10-year project out to tender, seeking a company willing to invest to build an online system that will handle visa applications from those seeking to move to Australia.
Labor and the unions have expressed their disagreement about the proposed privatisation, citing job losses and compromised security on assessments as risks.
However, the government stressed that private companies will only be contracted to handle visa applications and to give advice to decision-makers.
“The systems will improve visa decision making by departmental staff and allow for the better identification of risks in the visa caseload.”
