Australia’s record surge in skilled temporary visas is clogging the system, while leaving the nation’s most urgent trade shortages unresolved, writes Dr Abul Rizvi.
SKILLED TEMPORARY VISAS (the old subclass 457 and now subclass 482) have traditionally been split 60-70 per cent offshore and 30-40 per cent onshore. That reversed in 2024-25 primarily due to a surge in former students and temporary graduates securing skilled temporary visas, with a major surge in visas for chefs and cooks rather than construction trades. That cannot be allowed to continue.
There was a record 130,571 skilled temporary visas granted in 2024-25, beating the previous record of 126,361 set in 2012-13. The new onshore record visa grants were 70,218 in 2025-26, beating the previous record of 53,829 set in 2012-13.
The surge in onshore skilled temporary visas was driven by a combination of a strong labour market, a reduction in the skilled work experience requirement from two years to one year and the record number of temporary graduates and working holidaymakers in Australia.
As those circumstances are likely to continue in 2025-26, it is likely another record onshore skilled temporary visas will be granted. The record 219,710 people in Australia on skilled temporary visas at end June 2025 are putting intense pressure on permanent employer sponsored visas. However, the Government has kept the number of places for such visas in the 2025-26 Migration Program unchanged at 44,000.
That will mean processing times for both temporary skilled visas and permanent employer sponsored visas will continue to blow out.
The boom in skilled temporary visas is not leading to key skill shortages to be addressed. A significant development in 2024-25 was the rapid increase in onshore skilled temporary visa grants to chefs and cooks (see Chart 2).
That trend is likely to continue as more temporary graduates move to the skilled temporary visa. In turn that is putting pressure on the permanent employer sponsored visa. Neither the Department of Home Affairs nor Jobs and Skills Australia are reporting a major shortage of chefs and cooks in Australia. The trend reflects the fact many VET colleges offer training in cookery which can often be completed in 6-12 months.
On the other hand, there is a major shortage of construction tradies.
But skilled temporary visa grants to key construction trade occupations, particularly from offshore, is rising only very slowly (see Chart 3). The slow rise in onshore visa grants to construction tradies reflects the fact very few VET colleges offer training in construction trades. Training in construction trades takes much longer and involves a range of regulatory barriers.
Further reform is clearly needed in terms of skills targeting. This could best be achieved by better managing the skills pathway for students to temporary graduates.
Dr Abul Rizvi is an Independent Australia columnist and a former Deputy Secretary of the Department of Immigration. You can follow Abul on Twitter @RizviAbul.
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