The Department of Home Affairs has released data on temporary visa holders to the September quarter.
The below table summarises the data. As at December 2022, there were 2,386,771 temporary visa holders in Australia, up 722,000 on December 2021:
However, more than half of this increase (463,700) were visitors, reflecting the reopening of Australia’s international border to tourists. Other major movements were:
- 141,000 increase in student visas;
- 93,000 increase in Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visas;
- 78,000 increase in skilled and employer visas; and
- 49,000 increase in graduate visas.
These were partly offset by a 130,000 reduction in bridging visas.
The next chart sums student, WHM, skilled and employer visas, and graduate visas to give a proxy for temporary visas with work rights:
As you can see, total temporary work visas rose 362,000 in the 2022 calendar year.
Finally, the below chart from the Treasury’s Centre for Population shows that the growth in temporary visas (excluding visitors, crews and transit visas) has already soared way past pre-pandemic levels to record highs:
China’s directive that it will no longer recognise foreign academic degrees and diplomas if the study was conducted online is expected to see 40,000 to 50,000 Chinese students land in Australia over the next two months.
‘Big Australia’ immigration is back with a bullet. Now watch as unemployment rises back up, wage growth sags, and the rental market tightens even further.
