Immigration: 2007-08 Budget initiatives
Supporting regional migration
The Australian Government is committed to having regional Australia share the benefits from our migration programme. For 2007-08 the Australian Government has approved an increase of 5,000 places in the skill stream. Within the skill stream it is estimated some 750 places will be available under State-Specific and Regional Migration initiatives. The actual number achieved will be largely contingent on the extent to which state and territory governments use the State-Specific and Regional Migration initiatives. The Australian Government continues to work with state and territory governments to identify and fill skill shortages in regional Australia.
Humanitarian settlement in regional areas
The Australian Government is providing an additional $1.5 million over four years from 2007-08 to 2010-2011 to continue long-term settlement of refugees in regional areas, particularly where there are employment opportunities. This funding includes $1 million for a small discretionary fund to develop the expertise of settlement services in regional locations and $0.5 million to improve data capture of employment and skills history, to facilitate the matching of humanitarian entrants with regional employment opportunities.