Australia is considered to be one of the world’s major ‘immigration nations‘(together with New Zealand, Canada and the USA). Every year hundreds of thousands of foreign workers choose to live and work in Australia because of the lifestyle and employment opportunities offered. Since 1945, when the first federal immigration portfolio was created, over 7.5 million people have settled here and Australia’s overseas-born resident population—estimated to be 28.2 per cent of the population in June 2015—is considered high compared to most other OECD countries.

Permanent migrants enter Australia via one of two distinct programs—the Migration Program for skilled and family migrants or the Humanitarian Program for refugees and those in refugee-like situations. Each year, the Australian Government allocates places, or quotas, for people wanting to migrate permanently to Australia under these two programs.

Though Australia has recently slashed the migration cap from 190,000 to 160,000, the country still has one of the largest immigration programs in the world. A large part of it is made up of the skilled stream, allowing skilled foreign workers to live and work in Australia on permanent and temporary visas.