Why skilled visas should be based on age and income

Friday 19 June 2026

One positive recent reform undertaken by the Albanese government to Australia’s migration system was allocating far more permanent skilled places to employer-sponsored visas at the expense of regional visas.

As a result, 58,040 permanent employer-sponsored visas are planned to be issued for 2026-27, comprising 44% of the total skilled migrant intake:

The Australian Treasury’s Fiscal Impact of New Australians (FIONA) modelling shows that two primary factors determine the fiscal and economic benefits of skilled migrants:

The age at which the migrant enters and begins working in Australia; and
Their starting incomes.

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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.