The Department of Home Affairs says it has abandoned the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL) in favour of a refreshed visa processing system, after the reported removal of tech and cybersecurity occupations from the list caused concern among the local IT sector.
To counter critical skills deficits caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and Australia’s closed-border policy, the former Coalition government established the PMSOL to accelerate the processing of high-priority occupations through employer-sponsored visa programs.
As of Thursday morning, the public-facing PMSOL website listed 44 occupations in fields like healthcare, engineering, resources, and social services.
Reflecting the shortage of available tech talent, it also included a number of tech-focused occupations, including ‘ICT security specialist’ and ‘developer programmer’.
However, The Australian Financial Review reports Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil last week issued a ministerial direction to remove 27 occupations from the list, including a number of tech-focused job titles.
The decision to cut tech-focused occupations from the list surprised industry observers, given the significant shortages across the sector and recent spate of high-profile cyber attacks on Australian businesses.
The PMSOL web page went offline before midday Thursday, returning a “401 UNAUTHORISED” error message. The web page was still inaccessible as of Friday morning.
New information from the Department of Home Affairs suggests the federal government is not only adjusting the PMSOL, but moving on entirely.
In a statement provided to SmartCompany on Friday, a Department of Home Affairs spokesperson said the “removal” of the “out-dated” PMSOL will simplify “processing directions and enables greater efficiency across the caseload”.
“The PMSOL and critical sectors implemented in September 2020 involved time-consuming and complex assessments,” the spokesperson said.
“These were only necessary while travel restrictions were in place and contributed to the backlog of skilled visa applications.”
Incomplete applications made under the PMSOL system “will continue to be processed efficiently given the improvements in visa processing since the government committed additional funding and staff to reduce processing times,” the spokesperson added.
The Department’s updated advice is now available, including its revamped skilled visa processing priorities.
In order, the Department says it will prioritise:
Visa applications in relation to a healthcare or teaching occupation.
For employer sponsored visas, visa applications where the applicant is nominated by an Approved sponsor with Accredited Status.
Visa applications in relation to an occupation to be carried out in a designated regional area.
For permanent and provisional visa subclasses, visa applications that count towards the migration program, excluding the Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa.
All other visa applications.
The reshuffle comes amid a broader expansion of the department’s visa processing abilities.
The federal budget has committed $42.2 million in 2022-23 to accelerate its visa processing capabilities and advertise opportunities for highly-skilled migrants.
260 new staff members have joined the Department’s visa processing teams compared to May levels, helping to complete over 43,000 temporary skilled and 47,000 permanent skilled visa applications since June this year.
Labor also lifted its 2022-2023 skilled migration cap from 160,000 to 195,000 places.
Earlier, the removal of tech-focused roles from the PMSOL flummoxed Australia’s IT sector.
“It is surprising to see the removal of these roles from the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List,” said Adam Beavis, managing director at cloud management platform Stax.
“To see this alongside 26 other crucial tech roles removed is disappointing and will have an impact on how we hire and fulfill the expertise required from these roles,” he added.
“The flow on effect will make it harder for start-ups and small businesses to compete with larger with greater resource to attract, secure and retain talent.”
Of particular concern was the potential impact on Australia’s cyber security skill base, given the recent high-profile data breaches afflicting Optus and Medibank.
The scale of Australia’s cyber security vulnerability is laid bare in a new report from the Australian Cyber Security Centre, which on Friday said it received 76,000 cybercrime reports in 2021-2022 — an increase of 13% compared to the year prior.
That means Australians reported one incidence of cybercrime every seven minutes over the last financial year.
For small businesses, the average cost of each cybercrime report sat at $39,000.
“With the scale and velocity of the data breaches we are seeing, compounded by the pre-existing skills shortage within the tech industry, it is difficult to understand the decision,” Beavis said.
Digital training experts say businesses should consider up-skilling their own staff to counter the growing cyber security threats.
Steven Armitage, country director for cyber security training organisation SANS Institute, said the PMSOL amendment is “another challenge that Australian companies looking for the critically important skills to protect their networks and their customers will need to overcome.”
With the number of today’s university graduates unlikely to meet tech sector demand, “organisations must instead look at developing the skills from within with professional training, in order to fill the security gaps,” Armitage said.
Between July and September, the federal government granted 4,095 temporary skilled visas granted to IT professionals.
Of those, 119 were designated as ‘ICT security specialist’.
More to come.
Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
