Net migration falls in Australia as COVID border restrictions cause migrants to question long-term future

When Ariel Azzimonti arrived in Australia, he had 10 years of hairdressing experience, little English and a working holiday visa.

Eight years later he’s an Australian citizen, fluent in English, partway through studying a degree in music and a member of a local jazz band. 

Before COVID hit, he imagined he might one day raise a family in Sydney.

But Australia’s border closures and not being to visit his family in Argentina has made him rethink his long-term future. 

“It’s a bit of a struggle,” he said. “Your family are scared and you’re on the other side of the world.

“You can’t really go there and say, ‘give me a hug and let’s talk about things.'”

Thousands of migrants share his feelings.

Since the borders shut in March last year, more than 500,000 temporary migrants left the country, according to a report by a parliamentary committee on migration.

Many were skilled migrants.

Skill shortage

Before the pandemic, people moving to and from Australia resulted in the Australian population growing by about 200,000 each year.

Since Australia’s borders closed, that’s gone into reverse.

Last financial year, net migration fell by 70,000 people: This year it is expected to drop by 20,000.

The federal government’s Centre for Population forecasts positive migration will only return in the 2022-2023 financial year.

KPMG’s head of immigration services, Belinda Wright, said border closures had severely affected Australia’s migrant programme.

She said before the pandemic, Australia had been falling behind other countries in its ability to attract and retain skilled migrants and travel restrictions had only made that worse.

“I think that there is a huge impact to the future of our migration if we continue to have such strict border control,” she said.

Ms Wright said she had many clients unable to find workers in Australia with the skills they needed.

In June, the federal government acknowledged critical skill vacancies and added occupations such as accountants and auditors to the skilled occupation list “to create Australian jobs and aid in Australia’s ongoing recovery from the impact of COVID-19.” 

But that does not mean new recruits can find seats on planes to come to the country. 

“Not being able to physically get them into Australia is impacting our ability to service clients,” Ms Wright said. 

Family ties

Once they are here, keeping migrants committed to Australia has also become a problem.

Ms Wright said many people who choose to migrate to Australia expected to regularly return home and spend time with family.

COVID has altered the equation.

“[Some] have actually resigned and decided to return home,” she said.

“It’s impacting them from a mental health perspective, but it’s also impacting them in terms of their family that’s relying on them in their home country.”

Jas Kaun and her husband have both lived in Australia for more than a decade, but they say because of their experience during the pandemic they were rethinking their decision to settle here.

Like many Indian families, Ms Kaun planned for her parents to spend time in Australia to help raise her kids in Tarneit in Melbourne’s outer west so she could keep working.

“The culture I come from, we all help each other,” Ms Kaun said.

“It’s just very, very normal to ask your parents or your siblings that we need help.”

When COVID struck, her parents were in Australia on a one-year tourist visa, helping her look after her two-year-old while she worked.

But problems developed when they admit they made a mistake — they missed the deadline to extend their visa 

At the time Ms Kaun and her husband were consumed by doing what they could for his father who was hospitalised with COVID in India.

Their appeals for an extension were denied, and Ms Kaun’s parents had to return to India as COVID ripped through the country.

“We never realised until this pandemic came how hard it would be when you have your family living overseas,” Ms Kaun said.

Several members of her extended family have died from COVID in India, some because they did not get the medical attention they needed.

Seeing her parents return there in the middle of the pandemic has made Ms Kaun question her decision to move to Australia.

“I sometimes regret why I came here,” she said.

She said she and her husband still love Australia, and she’s proud of the hard work they’ve put in to build a life here. 

But the treatment of her parents during the pandemic “has left a sour taste in my mouth”.  

Competitive edge

The federal government has said it expected to open international borders in November.

But in a globalised world, Australia has some work to do if it wants to compete with other countries for migrants’ attention.

Ms Wright thinks Canada, the UK and Singapore are in a better position to attract migrants right now, over Australia.

She said Canada in particular was an attractive option for migrants looking for a similar lifestyle to Australia, but without the complex migration process.

“In Canada, you can have a global talent visa similar to our visa subclass approved within weeks,” she said.

In Australia, she said, it would more likely take six months.

Now that he’s picked up English, mastered the saxophone and built up his experience with high-end salons, Mr Azzimonti has the confidence to look elsewhere to take his career further.

He loves the life he’s built in Sydney, but to fuel his creativity he wants to see it stay a diverse and enriching place.

“We want people to come over and bring their own culture and ideas and projects, that’s how the country’s been growing,” he said.

“That’s the whole base of Australia.”