2011 COMpeting fOr SkiLLS: MigrAtiOn pOLiCieS AnD trenDS in new ZeALAnD AnD AuStrALiA fuLL repOrt DOL11642.2 MAY 11 Prepared for the Department of Labour by Professor Lesleyanne Hawthorne University of Melbourne This research received funding from the Australian Government/Department of Immigration and Citizenship Disclaimer: The Department of Labour has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this report is reliable, but makes no guarantee of its accuracy or completeness and does not accept any liability for any errors. The contents, information, advice and opinions expressed in this report are not necessarily those of The Department of Labour or those of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The Department of Labour may change the contents of this report at any time without notice. © Crown copyright 2011 This material is Crown copyright unless otherwise stated and may be reproduced free of charge without requiring specific permission. 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Department of Labour PO Box 3705 Wellington New Zealand www.dol.govt.nz For Immigration Research visit www.immigration.govt.nz/research ISBN 978-0-478-36077-6 ii Competing for Skills: Migration policies and trends in New Zealand and Australia CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................VIII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...........................................................................XI INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................... 1 1 SKILLED MIGRATION TRENDS 2004–2009 – NEW ZEALAND COMPARED WITH AUSTRALIA........................................................... 8 1.1 Permanent skilled migration to Australia, 2004–2009 ........................8 1.2 Permanent skilled migration to New Zealand, 2004–2009 ................26 1.3 Temporary skilled migration to Australia, 2004–2009 ......................41 1.4 Temporary skilled migration to New Zealand, 2004–2009 ................46 2 COMPARATIVE OUTCOMES FROM NEW ZEALAND’S AND AUSTRALIA’S SKILLED MIGRATION PROGRAMMES IN 2006 AND 2007 ............................................................................................... 50 2.1 Skilled migration policy in Australia at the time of data collection......50 2.2 Skilled migration policy in New Zealand at the time of data collection ...................................................................................55 2.3 Context of the longitudinal survey administration............................59 2.4 Evaluating skilled migration policy outcomes – Data from the Australian and New Zealand longitudinal surveys ............................67 2.5 Comparing outcomes from Australia and New Zealand’s skilled migration programmes 2004–06...................................................68 2.6 Multivariate analysis – employment outcomes for skilled migrants ....90 2.7 Employment outcomes for degree-qualified migrants across all immigration categories to Australia (2006) ....................................98 2.8 Employment outcomes for Skilled Migrant Category skilled secondary applicants (New Zealand) ........................................... 104 3 SKILLED MIGRATION POLICY DEVELOPMENTS 2007–2010: AUSTRALIA COMPARED WITH NEW ZEALAND............................... 107 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................. 107 3.2 Australian policy trends 2007–2010 – fine-tuning the study– migration pathway .................................................................... 108 3.3 Australian policy trends 2007–2010 – the shift to sponsored entry.. 122 3.4 Evolution of New Zealand’s skilled migration policy 2007–2010 – demographic context................................................................. 130 3.5 Evolution of New Zealand’s skilled migration policy 2007–2010 – study–migration pathway........................................................... 133 3.6 Evolution of New Zealand’s skilled migration policy 2006–2008 – final years of the Clark Labour government .................................. 137 3.7 Evolution of New Zealand’s skilled migration policy 2008–2010– first years of the Key National government .................................. 146 Competing for Skills: Migration policies and trends in New Zealand and Australia iii 4 CONCLUSION ................................................................................ 152 4.1 Changing characteristics of skilled migrants ................................. 152 4.2 Evolution of two-step migration .................................................. 154 4.3 Likely influence of employer selection.......................................... 157 4.4 Skilled migration from the ‘neighbourhood’ .................................. 158 4.5 Attempted dispersal of skilled migrants ....................................... 158 4.6 Challenge of retention ............................................................... 160 APPENDICES....................................................................................... 162 REFERENCES ....................................................................................... 172 iv Competing for Skills: Migration policies and trends in New Zealand and Australia List of boxes Box 1: Case study – Medical migration to Australia................................................ 112 Box 2: Case study – Nursing migration to Australia ............................................... 120 Box 3: Case study – Engineering migration to Australia.......................................... 125 Box 4: Case study – Medical migration to New Zealand .......................................... 140 Box 5: Case study – Nursing migration to New Zealand.......................................... 144 Box 6: Case study – Engineering migration to New Zealand .................................... 150 Box 7: Recent skilled migration to Canada ........................................................... 155 List of figures Figure 1: Skilled migration policy chronology, 1999–2010 ...............................4 Figure 2: Comparative unemployment rates – Australia (1980–2010) and New Zealand (1990–2010) ........................................................................62 List of tables Table 1: Level of Australian- and overseas-born people holding post-school qualifications (2006), migrants grouped by time of arrival in Australia ........................ 11 Table 2: Australian professional workforce (2006) by qualification level and field, birthplace and year of arrival, percentages............................................................. 12 Table 3: New Zealand settler arrivals to and permanent departures from Australia, 1998/99 to 2008/09........................................................................................... 13 Table 4: Australia – General Skilled Migration primary applicants by year of arrival, gender, age, and location, 2004/05 to 2008/09 ...................................................... 15 Table 5: Total international student enrolments in Australia, August 2008 ................... 16 Table 6: Top fields and sectors of enrolment for international students in Australia, 2002 and 2008.................................................................................................. 19 Table 7: Australia – general skilled migration primary applicants by major occupation, 2004/05 to 2008/09 .......................................................................... 20 Table 8: Australia – Top 20 source countries for General Skilled Migration primary applicants, 2004/05 to 2008/09 ........................................................................... 24 Table 9: New Zealand – skilled migration category principal applicants by year of arrival, gender, and location of application, 2004/05 to 2008/09................................ 28 Table 10: Top 10 global destinations for international students enrolled in higher and vocational education courses ............................................................................... 29 Table 11: New Zealand – student permits/visas allocated, by principal and secondary applicants, 2004/05 to 2008/09 ........................................................................... 30 Table 12: New Zealand – education sector of international student enrolments (excluding English language and informal sectors), 2004/05 to 2008/09 ..................... 30 Table 13: Major occupations for skilled migrants primary applicants to New Zealand and Australia, 2004/05 to 2008/09 ....................................................................... 32 Table 14: New Zealand – Skilled Migration Category principal applicants by major occupation, 2004/05 to 2008/09 .......................................................................... 34 Table 15: New Zealand – Top 20 source countries for Skilled Migration Category principal applicants, 2004/05 to 2008/09............................................................... 40 Table 16: Occupational categories of employer-sponsored 457 temporary migrants to Australia, 2004/05 to 2008/09 ............................................................................. 44 Table 17: Growth by industry sector of employer-sponsored temporary workers