Australia faces surge in temporary migrant population

Australia is experiencing record-high immigration levels driven by a surge in temporary visas. While permanent migration has remained steady at approximately 200,000 per year under both Labor and Coalition governments, the temporary intake has expanded significantly.

In the last financial year, over 1 million visas were issued to international students, skilled migrants, and working holidaymakers. There are currently more than 3 million temporary visa holders in the country, representing more than 16 per cent of the working-age population. This shift has created what former head of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Martin Parkinson, describes as an “underclass of the permanently temporary.”

The current situation is attributed to a patchwork of shifting regulations rather than a single piece of legislation, making the complex system difficult to unravel.