Another pathway in the new Skills in Demand visa is the Core Skills Pathway.
This pathway focuses on attracting skilled professionals in areas experiencing skill shortages. These areas include technology, engineering, healthcare, and the digital economy. Workers earning between $70,000 and $135,000 per year will be eligible for this pathway.
- Aligns with occupations facing shortages.
- Minimum salary requirement of $70,000, indexed annually.
- Simplified application process and a clear route to permanent residency.
- Open to trades workers who meet occupation list and salary criteria.
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Comparative Analysis of the Pathways
| Pathway | Minimum Annual Earnings | Occupation List | Processing Time | Priority Focus | Notable Features |
| Specialist Skills | $135,000+ | No Restrictions | 7 days | High-earning professionals | Fast-tracked, limited spots |
| Core Skills | $70,000+ | Core Skills List | Standard | In-demand occupations | Open to trades, pathway to PR |
| Essential Skills | Under $70,000 | Sector-Specific | Standard | Critical sectors | Stricter regulations, capped numbers |
Most temporary skilled migrants will come through the Core Skills Pathway, which is designed to bring in the skilled employees Australia needs now and, in the future, to ensure that we are able to provide ourselves with the goods and services we need to support our way of life. It might include, for example, a Registered Nurse who is helping a regional hospital’s emergency department deal with acute workforce shortages or a Secondary School Teacher helping teach science in our public schools.
The Core Skills Pathway would be available to applicants who meet the general eligibility criteria and:
- whose occupation is on a new Core Skills Occupation List, which relates to occupations identified by Jobs and Skills Australia as being in shortage or where Australia has committed to providing access to our labour market in relation to that occupation through international trade agreements.
- who will be paid a salary at or above the TSMIT (to be retitled the Core Skills Threshold, when the new system is implemented), or the relevant average market salary where it is above the TSMIT.
Unlike the Specialist Skills Pathway, trades workers, machinery operators and drivers, and labourers will be eligible under the Core Skills Pathway subject to being identified on the Core Skills Occupation List based on advice from Jobs and Skills Australia, and being paid above the TSMIT (including for roles paid above the Specialist Skills Threshold).
The Migration Review was critical of the current approach to identifying skills needs and recommended a more forward looking and evidence-based approach led by Jobs and Skills Australia that takes account of domestic training and workforce planning efforts.
The approach to constructing the Core Skills Occupation List can be found in Action 5: Planning migration to get the right skills in the right places.