Labor’s skilled migration system has been exposed after new analysis revealed that less than half of people granted visas last financial year were primary applicants assessed for their skills.
Research by the Institute of Public Affairs has found that of the 185,001 permanent visas granted during 2024-25, a total of 132,148 were issued through the skilled migration stream.
However, only 60,474 visas were granted to primary applicants assessed as skilled workers.
The remaining visas were issued to partners, spouses and children who accompanied those migrants to Australia.
Over the five years to June 2025, visas approved for family and other dependants totalled 594,470, of which 307,575 were chain permanent migrants under the skilled category.
IPA research fellow Kevin You said the figures raised serious questions about how the program was presented to the public.
“The federal government’s misleadingly named Skilled Migration Program is just a visa approvals target that clearly prioritises chain migration over skilled migration,” Mr You said.
“The government’s mass migration program has inflicted serious economic and social harm on mainstream Australians, all while telling them it’s to help the economy.
“Federal governments, under both major parties, have misled Australians into thinking that we have a skills-first migration system.
“It helps explain why no matter how much migration is increased our workforce is not getting any more skilled or productive.”
While the program covers traditional shortage areas such as medicine, engineering and construction trades, it now includes 456 occupations.
The list extends to professions including graphic designers, actors, advertising managers, public relations advisers and interior designers.
One Nation says the latest figures showed the skilled migration program was failing to deliver what Australians had been promised.
“The data confirms what has been known for some time: Labor’s immigration policy does not work in the national interest,” a One Nation spokesperson told SkyNews.com.au.
“It is not designed to meet our skills shortage, and only makes Australia’s housing crisis worse.”
The debate follows broader concerns about migration settings and population growth.
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed Australia’s population increased by 412,500 people over the year to reach 27.8 million.
Net overseas migration accounted for the overwhelming majority of that growth.
The Albanese government has repeatedly pointed to declining migration levels since the post-pandemic peak and argues its strategy is working.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently said migration had fallen substantially from its 2023 highs and would continue to move towards Treasury’s long-term projections.
“The objective is working,” Mr Albanese said.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has also argued migration has already been reduced significantly.
“We’ve already got (immigration numbers) down 45 per cent from where they were, and as the budget papers make clear, we continue to get them lower,” Mr Burke said.
The government has consistently stated its goal is to bring net overseas migration closer to 225,000 people, although it has not achieved that target since taking office.
Institute of Public Affairs research fellow Saxon Davidson recently argued migration numbers were unlikely to decline much further.
“I suspect it won’t,” he said.
“Particularly because, when you look at our overall economic performance, the only reason that we’re not in an overall economic recession is because of these elevated migration numbers.
“And the government will use that as a justification to continue these elevated levels of migration.”
The Coalition and One Nation have both made migration a major political issue, linking population growth to housing shortages and rising pressure on public services.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has proposed tighter migration controls.
Earlier this year he pitched deporting tens of thousands of visa overstayers and to implement stricter, values-based entry conditions.
Last month Mr Taylor told Sunday Agenda that immigration levels remain “way above” the government’s own targets.
“They’ve failed time and time again. They’ve missed every one of their targets. We’ve seen 1.4 million people coming in, in three and a half years,” he said.
“Meanwhile, the housing supply numbers are below their own targets. So housing way below their targets, immigration way above.
“Well it’s no surprise that young Australians can’t get into a home and that’s why we will establish a cap on migration.”
In June, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson used her National Press Club address to say population growth placed unsustainable pressure on housing and infrastructure.
“Undeniably immigration or immigration policy has our country in the state of crisis,” Ms Hanson said.