Australia’s sluggish visa processing is exacerbating labour shortages in the regions, frustrating business owners eager to take on new staff and prompting calls for action from the federal government.
The median wait time for a 491 visa – authorisation for skilled work in regional settings – is up to six months, as a quarter of applications take at least nine months to process. The slowest 10 per cent of applications takes almost two years to be completed, according to Department of Home Affairs data.
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Tom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent. Connect with Tom on Twitter. Email Tom at thomas.mcilroy@afr.com
Michael Read is the Financial Review's economics correspondent, reporting from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and at UBS. Connect with Michael on Twitter. Email Michael at michael.read@afr.com
