Pre-Migration Selection, Services and Supports for Immigrants: Experiences from Australia Lesleyanne Hawthorne Professor – International Workforce International Metropolis Conference Tampere, Finland (Final Version) 9-13 September 2013

Policy Priorities: Australia 2013 Goals: Nation-building Skill enhancement Economic growth Followed by family reunification and refugee/ asylum seeker intakes Numbers ( ): Permanent intake: Around 226,000 Skilled category: 68% (and 130,000 temporary workers) Family category: 65,000 Humanitarian category: Rising from 13,000 20,000 Federal Election impacts? 6 September 2013: 13,000 (Conservatives) or 27,000 (Labor)?

Categories and Recent Quotas: Australia’s Permanent Migration Program Permanent Migration Categories Skilled, including:114,777129,250128,550 Employer-sponsored38,02663,25065,000 Independent44,59445,55044,990 State-region sponsored14,05524,65028,850 Business innovation and investment7,3977,4007,260 Distinguished talent Family56,36660,18560,885 Total Migration171,318190,000 Humanitarian (lower if conservative government elected 7/9/2013) 13,00020,00020,000-27,000 Total Permanent Migration184,318210,000?227,000

The Challenge of Migrant Diversity (Over 200 Source Countries): Top Ten Citizenships of Migrants

Pre-Migration Selection, Service Provision, Support to Facilitate Integration in Australia Policy and key strategies: Skilled migrants

Australia’s Level of Reliance on Migrant Professionals: By Field 2006 Compared to 2001

1.NZ (12% population resident 2010/ 41% growth 2012) 2.International students (630,000 enrolled by 2010) 3.Temporary labour migration (457 visa - 131,341) 4.Permanent skilled migrants 5.Dependents of GSM migrants 6.Family and Humanitarian category migrants Pre-Migration Screening and Information for Skilled Migrants: Major Entry Pathways

Pre-Migration Filtering of Skilled Migrants 1999+: Points Criteria and Human Capital Attributes (Now Extended to Temporary Migrants) Or Priority Processing (Sponsorship) English testing Credential screening International student selection Occupational demand

Case Study in Assessing English Skills: International Health Professionals’ Pass Rates by Field ( ) Nurses (17%) Pharmacists (38%), Doctors (52%), Dentists (62%)

Pre-Migration Assessment of Skilled Applicants in Regulated Fields – to Intakes PERMANENT SKILLED 66% of intake = professionals Top professions – Accounting (32%) Computing (23%) Architect/ Building (9%) Engineering (9%) Nursing (5%) Top trades – Chef/baker (30%) Engineering (14%) Building (14%) Electrical (12%) Hairdressing (12%) TEMPORARY SKILLED: 58% of total intake = professionals Top professions (457 visa) – Nursing (25%) Computing (13%) Business (10%) Engineering (10%) Sales/ Marketing (8%) Medicine Scientist Teachers/ Lecturers Top trades – Mechanica/ fabrication trades (34%)

Rationale for Pre-Migration Screening: Foreign Credential Recognition Reform Process Date Foreign Credential Recognition Initiatives 1980s Grassroots advocacy Growing demand for reform (social justice and economic efficiency) Federally led and funded FCR reforms: Target - 9 professions and trades Focus - Recognition of prior learning/ CBA 1996 Parliamentary review: Best gains = Nursing, select trades, engineering Others = Minimal 1999 Pre-migration FCR screening for skilled PA’s (condition of eligibility) 2006Parliamentary review: Many residual problems Rapid growth in 457 visas, admitted with ‘conditional’ registration Parliamentary review: Medicine only (at a time of national systemic change) - problems

Select Qualification Recognition Initiatives 1. Investing in the knowledge base: NOOSR Country Education Profiles x 119 (Federal Government: Employment and Education Department) 2. Global collaborative assessment partnerships Pooling joint examination items for global administration (Canadian and Australian Medical Councils 2007+, based on 7,000 MCQ items) 3. Committing to bilateral/ multilateral agreements: Region-specific (eg Trans-Tasman, ASEAN initiatives) and Field- specific (Federal Government and regulatory body stakeholders, eg: Engineering: Washington and Sydney Accords (including capacity-building focus) Accounting: Ireland, HK, Canada, Malaysia, India Architecture: APEC Architect Project Dentistry: Australia and Canada - Etc!…

Select Best Practice Qualifications Recognition Initiatives…. 4. Developing the Australian Qualifications Framework: Definition of 10 level framework to map all qualifications against (Federal Government and education sector providers) 5. Investing in English language training and field-specific bridging course provision: Exam and employment preparation courses Industry internships (Federal Immigration Department and State Governments, with courses delivered by state providers): 6. Providing competence-based assessment and courses: To assess level of knowledge/ experience rather than place qualification was gained (Federal Government and regulatory bodies, education sector providers)

Innovation Case Study 1: VETAssess - Assessment and Training Upgrades Pre-Migration Model:  Fee for service assessment body  Operating in 20+ countries  Provision of ‘gap training’ trade modules offshore pre- migration (recognised by Federal employment department and trades bodies)  Facilitates skilled migrant selection (full recognition)  Select trades – arrive with Australian qualification

Innovation Case Study 2: Development of Multiple Registration Pathways (Medicine Case Study 2008+) Specialists ? X FastMediumSlow

Using the Empirical Data: Australian Medical Council Examination Pass Rates MCQ: Overall – 82% pass rate (most candidates pass over 1-2 attempts) Clinical: Overall – 85% pass rate (most over 1-2 attempts) BUT – Only 61% proceed from passing the MCQ to attempt the Clinical exam RESULT – Just 43% of IMGs who commence the MCQ complete and secure full registration Competent Authority Pathway 2008+: Jurisdictions of past registration – 6 Countries of training – 55 (by 2010) Global attractiveness – dramatic jump in UK/ Ireland medical migration (c3,000 arrivals)

Complexity of Onshore Versus Offshore Processes: Growth in Sponsored Temporary Migration By 2009: 70% of all permanent and temporary labour migrants sponsored Attractions! Demand-driven (tap-on tap-off) Employer power to select Speed of processing 99% employment outcomes/ immediate earnings Constrained location (up to 4 years) 6 years ago: Around 34, : 125,000 (no limit to growth) annual growth = 42% (all fields) Medicine = 17,910 arrivals to (versus 2,910 permanent skilled migrants) 4/5 selected on a temporary basis: Area of need (etc)

Sponsorship: Growth in Permanent Skilled Migration ( to )

Impact of Employer-Sponsorship on Labour Source Country: 457 Visas

Growth in the Study-Migration Pathway for International Students: Full Time Employment Outcomes at 4 Months (Health Fields) Medicine: 98.8 per cent of international students employed full-time, compared to 99.7 per cent of domestic graduates Dentistry: 95.5 per cent compared to 93.5 per cent of domestic graduates Pharmacy: 96.1 per cent compared to 97.6 per cent Nursing (diploma to degree upgrade courses): 71.4 per cent (+17.6 per cent working part time) compared to 91.7 per cent Physiotherapy: 66.7 per cent (with a further 15 per cent working part-time compared to 93.7 per cent Comparison: Employment rates for migrants by field in first 5 years across all immigration categories – medicine (53%), dentistry (37%)

Compared To: International Students’ Full Time Employment Outcomes at 4 Months (Low Demand Fields) Business and commerce: 39.7 per cent of international students employed full-time compared to 76.4 per cent of domestic graduates Accounting: 35.2 per cent compared to 82.7 per cent 7,751 IS seeking employment (compared to 2,852 domestic graduates) Information technology: 42.3 per cent compared to 78.0 per cent 4,554 IS seeking employment (compared to 2,210) Engineering: 43.6 per cent compared to 86.4 per cent 1,236 IS seeking employment (compared to 1,341)

Where Do Australian Employers Choose Permanent Skilled Migrants? Outcomes

SkillSelect (July 2012+): Merging Temporary and Permanent Migration Processes New Zealand model: 2004+: 80-88% of skilled migrants selected onshore (employed or with job offer) Australian developments: Priority processing Favours sponsored migrants July 2011 new points test - Favours advanced English, higher degrees, employment experience, in-demand fields) Reduced: ‘Independent’ skilled migration + Occupational veiling ‘cap’ SkillSelect – Entrenches 2-step migration (virtually ‘trawling’ x 2 years) Immediate vs subsequent offers - Once eligible for selection

Minimising Service Provision Needs: Employment Outcomes for Permanent Skilled Migrants by Category ( ) Visa Reporting Category Skilled Job Other Job Not Working Working Full-time Particip. Rate Unemploy.Median Full-time Earnings 6 MonthsJob($'000) Employer Sponsored Family/State Sponsored Offshore Independent Onshore Independent Skilled Graduates Other Skilled All Skilled

Select Sources Birrell, B, Hawthorne, L, Richardson, S (2006), Evaluation of the General Skilled Migration Program, Government of Australia, Canberra Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2012), Report on Migration Program (Canberra) Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2012), Report on Visa Program (Canberra) Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2012), The Outlook for Net Overseas Migration September 2012, (Canberra) Department of Immigration and Citizenship (2012), The Continuous Survey of Australia’s Migrants – Cohorts 1-5 Reports, , (Canberra) Hugo, G (2012), ‘2012 Migration Update Report’, Presentation, 2012 Migration Update Conference, Adelaide, 12 October Hawthorne, L (2011), Competing for Skills – Migration Policies and Trends in New Zealand and Australia, Government of New Zealand, Wellington, 2011 Hawthorne, L (2012), ‘Designer Immigrants? International Students and Two-Step Migration’, Chapter 23 in The Sage Handbook of International Higher Education, ed. D Deardorff, D de Witt, T Adams & J Heyl, Sage, New York Hawthorne, L (2012), Health Workforce Migration to Australia – Policy Trends and Outcomes , Health Workforce Australia, Adelaide, profession-migrationhttp:// profession-migration Hawthorne, L (2012), ‘Australia – Federal Compared to State Roles in Immigrant Integration’, Chapter 1 in Immigrant Integration Policies and Practices: Canada, United States, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain. Ed L. Seidle & C Joppke, McGill-Queen's University Press, Montreal and Kingston. Hawthorne, L (2008), Migration and Education: Quality Assurance and Mutual Recognition of Qualifications – Australia Report, UNESCO, Parishttp://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0017/001798/179842E.pdf Hawthorne, L & To, A (2013), English Language Skill Registration Standards in Medical and Allied Health Fields, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency, Melbourne OECD (2012) Migration Outlook SOPEMI Report, OECD Paris