TRANSCRIPT:
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has revealed the government is considering offshore recognition of skills to avoid lengthy wait times for migrants once they arrive in Australia.
At least 620,000 permanent migrants are working below their skill level in Australia, according to government figures.
Mr Burke made the comments during his first National Press Club address as home affairs minister.
Despite the need for changes to the skilled migration program, Mr Burke says Australia is recognising an increasing number of skilled migrants.
"Last year, 21,000 visas for healthcare workers, 4300 visas for teachers, 15524 for construction, we have tripled the number of visas we're giving for construction."
And he says it's necessary to give out that many visas to meet the need for skilled migrants in Australia.
"If these are the areas where people want to cut, then they need to explain, which hospitals they're going to say don't have to fill every shift. Which education providers won't be - teaching the full range of subjects any more? Which construction projects are willing to wait longer for, including housing projects, if we're not going to have the labour we need to get them built."
Mr Burke also acknowledges there are challenges for the skilled migration system for migrants who have not acquired their visa through the employer sponsorship scheme.
He says his team is also working on the possibility of addressing the skills mismatch among migrants, that often leads many to work in other jobs, such as food delivery or Uber driving, rather than with their professional skills.
He says recognising skills offshore, before migrants arrive in the country is one strategy.
"We haven't landed on it. This has been a wicked problem that no government has been able to solve in the lifetime of any of us. But it's something that if we can unlock this, then everybody wins. The economy wins, and the immigrant who is being given of a promise of what it will be like to work in Australia wins as well."
Mr Burke also announced he will close down a loophole in the migration system that's been fueling money laundering and crypto scams.
When international students leave Australia after graduation, their empty bank accounts can become what are called money mules, where criminals launder their money.
Mr Burke says he's approached universities for help to share the message with international students.
"Our banks had to close 22,000 mule accounts being used in this way. Overseas students need to be told the fact that if you are offered to hand over your bank details, not only is it a crime - not only are you breaking the law in doing that, but you're also creating a situation where you are probably providing a means for child exploitation, for drug trafficking, for some of the worst elements of organised crime."
In a submission to the August Economic roundtable, advocacy group Activate Australia's Skills touched on the problems that industry and skilled migrants face in Australia.
The group estimates that Australia's economy could grow by $9 billion every year or $25 million a day, if the skills of migrants were put to better use.
Mr Burke's proposal for offshore skill recognition has also been welcomed by some in-demand industry groups, such as Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn.
She says the government needs to attract roughly 100,000 extra workers for the country's construction needs.
But the Opposition leader Sussan Ley says there's still one issue around migration that Mr Burke hasn't addressed, and that's what she says is the high migration rate.
"And that is not the fault of any migrant or migrant community. I was a migrant to Australia, and I meet amazing migrants wherever I go. And I value contribution that they made. And the fact that they chose to come to Australia, we celebrate that every day. But let's not forget that this government allow a million migrants in a two-year period, much much higher than any two-year period in our history."
Ms Ley also says her party intends to develop sustainable immigration policies that recognise the pressures of migration on infrastructure.
