Tue Oct 18

Full response, Jane McAdam

Written by Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation

In relation to this FactCheck article on migration, Professor Jane McAdam said:

My comment was intended to clarify the breakdown of the figures quoted by Shen, specifically that the 200,000 figure mentioned by Jim and Shen referred (roughly) to the number of new permanent migrants each year, while the remaining 600,000 in Shen’s figure were temporary visas.

The figures quoted on Q&A can be substantiated in the following sources (for FY 2015-16):

Total skilled, family reunion and special eligibility: 189,770 https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/2015-16-migration-programme-report.pdf

Humanitarian programme: 17,555 http://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/humanitarian-programme-outcomes-offshore-2015-16.pdf

International Student visas: 310,845 https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/student-visa-trends-2015-16.pdf

Working Holiday sub-class 417 visa and Work and Holiday sub-class 462 visas: 214,583 https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/working-holiday-report-jun16.pdf

The latest figures for the 457 Temporary Work Visa in 2015-16 are harder to find, but quarterly statistics can be found here: http://www.border.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/work-in-australia

Authors: Sunanda Creagh, Editor, The Conversation