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MIGRANT SKILLS REVIEW

MIGRANTS may find that their overseas trade skills qualifications and licences are more easily recognised in the future after a powerful Parliamentary committee has reported on the issue.

Having their qualifications recognised has long been a major problem for overseas tradesmen wishing to emigrate to Australia, especially as each State and Territory demands different standards.

This part of the problem should be overcome in the near future now that all States and Territories have agreed to accept the same qualifications for certain trades.

Now, Minister for Immigration. Senator Amanda Vanstone has asked Federal Parliament's powerful Migration Committee to review the current system of assessing the skills of people wishing to emigrate under the skilled migration programmes.

Chairman of the Committee, Mr Don Randall, MP has said it would consider if the current arrangements for overseas skills recognition, licensing and registration were working effectively.

"There has been a lot of discussion recently about the skills shortage facing Australia. We want to see if the current processes by which migrants are assessed for entry to Australia under the skilled migration system are functioning efficiently, or need to be improved.

"We have been asked to look at skills recognition, not only for migrants, but also for those who come to Australia outside the skilled migration system, such as temporary residents needing skills assessment and Australian citizens returning to Australia with overseas qualifications."

In referring this matter, the Minister for Immigration, Senator Amanda Vanstone, has asked the Committee to examine a number of areas including whether greater consistency in the recognition of qualifications might be achieved among the States and Territories and any alternative approaches to skills assessment and recognition of overseas qualifications. Other issues may also arise in the course of the inquiry.

"We have also been asked to compare Australia's arrangements with other immigration countries," Mr Randall said.

"The Committee is particularly interested to hear from employers along with skills stream migrants and their families about how the system can be improved."

Members of the public can attend public hearings, which will be held from July.

* For background information, including the full terms of reference and copies of submissions when they become available visit the inquiry website at www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/mig/reports.htm