Australia's migration intake has dropped to its lowest level in a decade. But the government says it can still combat employment problems in regional Australia by setting places aside for skilled foreign workers. Around 160,000 visas were granted under the permanent migration program in 2018-19, nearly 30,000 fewer than the annual migration cap of 190,000. About 70 per cent of the places were filled by skilled workers, with migration agents and applicants blaming long processing times, rather than a lack of demand, for the unallocated visas. Two new regional migration visas will come into effect in November.
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