Britons Seek New Opportunities Down Under
23/05/2008 by Bryan Palmer
Australia is increasingly becoming one of the most popular destinations when it comes to immigration and according to the UK Government Britons contribute to a large portion of those seeking a new life down under.
Immigration of UK citizens to Australia has changed dramatically in the past century. Originally Australia was an option for British criminals or those encouraged to emigrate in the aftermath of the Second World War. Today it is the highly skilled professional Briton who are being targeted and who are in fact going to Australia by the dozen.
In figures released by the UK's Office of National Statistics as many as 80 000 British citizens have migrated to Australia in the past ten years and many of these are skilled workers seeking the opportunities available in Australia where many skills are in short supply.
It is believed that every few minutes a person immigrates to Australia. The reason for its popularity is often attributed to a variety of aspects. This is according to Erin Ryan of global mobility specialists, Global Visas (www.globalvisas.com) who states that, "the weather and low crime rate are obvious attractions, but I feel the main drawing card is the working opportunities."
These prospects are highly attractive to Brits, who most often choose Australia and New Zealand to resettle, with as many as 23 000 Britons moving to Australia and seeking Australian citizenship in 2006. "Immigration to Australia is a consistently popular ambition in Britain with one in three UK nationals expressing a wish to live and work in Australia," highlights Ryan. And with the increase in the number of accepted Australia visas being raised by 31 000, this amount is bound to increase.
Australia is looking for professionals adept in areas such as medicine, teaching, accountancy, IT and carpentry. Australia may focus on these skilled workers but are also in need of general labour or temporary low wage skills. These needs are being fulfilled if Immigration Minister Chris Evans' words are anything to go by. He says that, "Last year upwards of 500 000 people came into this country [Australia] with working rights: holiday-makers, students and so on."
Australian Immigration have seen a 17% rise in the amount of people coming in on temporary visas this year and amendments to the 457 temporary Australian visa to reduce backlog and fulfil industry needs will surely result in this rate consistently growing in the coming months.
Unemployment in Australia is very low; however there are major shortages in some industries when it comes to labour. It is often Brits who are swarming in to Australia and taking up lucrative jobs.
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