Skilled migrants ‘need prospect of permanent residency’

A global shortage of accounting professionals means Australia must lift its game on visa processing and offer greater certainty for those willing to relocate, says CPA Australia senior manager Gavan Ord. Speaking on this week’s Accountants Daily podcast, Mr Ord said Australia had to rethink how it treats skilled migrants to outcompete a range of nations from Canada to the UK to Singapore. “You’re asking people to move countries and then you’re only providing them a temporary visa for two, three, four years of work. Why would someone leave their home country with their own support networks and come to Australia only to be told four years later, sorry, you’re finished, go home?” Mr Ord said. “That’s not how it works. People need certainty that they’re going to move into permanent residency.”