The Albanese Government is supporting a stronger, more efficient Migration Program and keeping Australians safe from cyber threats.
These responsible investments respond to the challenges Australians face today and help to build a stronger Australia into the future.
Boosting Australia's Migration Program
Planning levels for the 2022-23 Migration Program will increase to 195,000 places from 160,000 last year to ease workforce skill shortages that many industries are experiencing as a result of the pandemic.
With a strong focus on the Skill stream, this year's Migration Program is estimated to have a positive impact of $448 million over four years from 2022-23 on the Budget.
An extra $36.1 million over two years announced at the Jobs and Skills Summit will help the Department of Home Affairs to recruit an additional 500 staff to boost processing capacity.
A further $6.2 million over two years from 2022-23 will fund outreach and communications, including an international marketing campaign to promote migration to Australia.
As part of the Albanese Government's plan to build a stronger Pacific family, a Pacific Engagement visa (PEV) will be introduced from July next year to boost Pacific permanent migration to Australia.
There will be 3,000 places available each year by a ballot process for eligible migrants from Pacific countries and Timor Leste. Places for the PEV will be in addition to the permanent Migration Program.
Student visa holders will continue to be able to work more than 40 hours per fortnight until 30 June 2023.
We are delivering on our commitment to provide $20 million in additional funding over four years from 2022-23 for the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) to support individual learners with flexible delivery and case management.
The Albanese Government is committed to supporting migrants to attain a level of English that will enable them to fully participate socially and economically in Australia.
New cyber security measures
The October 2022-23 Budget will provide $31.3 million in additional funding in 2022-23, providing cyber security services to agencies with fewer resources as part of its whole-of-Government Cyber Hub program uplift package.
The Government will provide additional funding of $2 million in 2022-23 to assist scam victims to recover their identity.
The funding allocation is part of fulfilling the Government's election commitment to combat scams and online fraud.
Investing in local multicultural projects
The Albanese Government is investing in local multicultural projects through $6.2 million for 66 projects in the Local Multicultural Projects initiative.
These will strengthen our multicultural society by improving community infrastructure, provide support for events and activities in targeted locations across Australia, and assist multicultural communities in accessing high quality, culturally appropriate facilities, services and places of worship.
