The Grattan Institute recently proposed to introduce an $85,000 wage threshold for permanent skilled migrants – “the equivalent of median annual full-time earnings” – alongside abolishing “clunky and out-of-date occupation lists”.
Grattan also proposed raising the minimum salary threshold for sponsoring a temporary skilled migrant from $53,900 a year to $70,000 – i.e. still around $15,000 below the full-time median wage (which includes unskilled workers).
Yet, the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ACCI) claims these wage thresholds are too high and will prevent employers from hiring lower-paid ‘skilled’ migrants (an oxymoron):
