Budget and migration policies in fiscal year 2025-26

The Federal Budget did not give any concrete advice on immigration policies or planning, it was hoped that the Government would announce the 2025-26 permanent Migration Program planning levels, but it did not.

Ahead of the Federal Budget announcement the Government had indicated that the broad plan was to ‘manage the net overseas migration numbers down quite considerably’ according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

That appears to be the case as Net Overseas Migration (NOM) is slowing and is forecast to slow further before numbers are expected to stabilise in 2025-26. Currently departures are increasing as people near the expiry of their visas which were granted post pandemic leave the country. NOM is forecast to be around 225,000 for the 2027-28 and 2029-29 periods.

However, NOM will have grown by 335,000 people this financial year, which is lower than an earlier estimate of 340,000. Australia’s NOM is estimated to be 260,000 for the next financial year, the same as the mid-year budget update estimate for 2025-26.

In September 2024, the Department of Home Affairs established the Office of Community Cohesion to strengthen social cohesion and democratic resilience in Australia. The Office builds on the important work of the Strengthening Democracy Taskforce flowing from its July 2024 report entitled Strengthening Australian democracy: A practical agenda for democratic resilience.

The core functions of the office are to:

· develop and drive a renewed strategic policy narrative of social cohesion and democratic resilience

· develop and deliver targeted policy initiatives and programs that leverage the Department, Commonwealth, State/Territory and non-government functions

· encourage and enable information sharing, innovation and collaboration across jurisdictions, sectors and international partners.

In the latest budget, funding for this area of social cohesion has been allocated $44.5 million for projects under the Critical Support for Multicultural Communities Grant program including:

· 3.5 million over three years from 2026 and $1.2 million per year ongoing, for the Community Refugee Integration and Settlement program

· $7.7 million in 2025–26 to extend the Economic Pathways to the Refugee Integration program to boost refugee employment

· other projects included in this funding will support community organisations to deliver multicultural amenities, celebrations and intercultural connections.

Minor increases have been granted for the Administrative Review Tribunal in relation to migration matters.

Funding will also be made available to support the resettlement in Nauru of non-citizens released from immigration detention in Australia who cannot remain in the country.

As part of the Government assistance to be provided to establish a new and permanent Leaving Violence Program for women, women who are in Australia on visas will also be eligible for assistance regardless of their visa status. It will provide support to victims of intimate partner violence with financial support packages to the value of $5000.

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash