Competing for skills: migration policies and trends in New Zealand and Australia: final report

This study was commissioned by the Department of Labour (New Zealand) and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (Australia) to compare both countries’ policy mechanisms and skilled migration outcomes. The aim was to compare skilled migration policies in New Zealand and Australia from 2004/05 to 2008/09, including employment outcomes for primary/principal applicants (PAs) in the early settlement period. The report is divided into four sections. Section one describes the characteristics of permanent compared with temporary skilled migration flows to New Zealand and Australia from 2004/05 to 2008/09, noting the strong interconnection between the two programmes. Section two describes the skilled migration policy setting in 2005 for each country, including the points-based selection criteria. Following this, the labour market outcomes achieved by skilled PAs are systematically compared, based on analysis of the 35 matched LisNZ–LSIA 3 questions at six and 18 months post-migration. Section three describes key skilled migration policy developments in New Zealand and Australia from 2006 to 2010, in the context of changing national governments and the global financial crisis. To illustrate the significance of these trends and demonstrate the impact of skilled migration on professions of significance to each country, engineering, medical and nursing case studies are provided. Section four highlights major areas of policy convergence and difference between Australia and New Zealand in recent years, most notably experimentation with two-step migration (including the study–migration pathway), the growing ‘privatisation’ of skilled migration (through employer sponsorship), and the increased focus on regional skilled migration in Australia. Show less