Australia took in 20,000 fewer permanent migrants than in the previous financial year, as 12,000 skilled visas weren't issued and the number of family visas dropped by 8,000.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says the cut is partly due to the government listening to "community concerns" but migrant and business groups say the reduction in the intake could have negative consequences.
With only a couple of weeks until the Super Saturday by-elections, [[July 28]] Mr Dutton stressed reducing the permanent migrant intake was a decision made partly in response to what he called "community concerns" as well as tougher vetting procedures.
Australia's limit on permanent migrants was set at 190,000 in 2011.
Some believe it should be lower, with former Prime Minister Tony Abbott making a case to cut it to 110,000.
The Small Business Council of Australia says its members will suffer under the reduction.
The Chief Executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, James Pearson, told SBS the reduction amounts to a real crisis because regional businesses are already struggling to serve regional communities.
And a former bureaucrat, who helped oversee Australia's visa program from the 1990s up until 2007, has told the ABC the reduction could have a depressing effect on the economy.
The Federation of Ethnic Communities' Councils of Australia, or FECCA, says the figures show an unnecessary cut to the family visa program.
Chief Executive Doctor Emma Campbell says that program is central to the success of the skilled migrant intake.
