Low-skilled visas flood Australia’s labour market

Thursday 18 September 2025

Australia’s migration system is flooding the nation with low-skilled workers.

The following chart from Alex Joiner at IFM Investors summarises the situation, with the overwhelming majority of net migrant arrivals arriving through pathways other than skilled visas:

Even leading pro-Big Australia shills Peter McDonald and Alan Gamlen admitted that Australia’s permanent migration system is unskilled and broken.

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:

$24.99 / month

$249 / year

Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe

About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.