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Thinking of emigrating to Australia from the UK? What a proposed cut to 100,000 migrants could mean

News · 2026-10-06 · 4 min read

If you have been reading about Australia while planning a move from the UK, you may have seen headlines about a plan to slash migration. On Tuesday 6 October 2026 the federal Opposition, the Liberal and National Coalition, released its migration policy. Here is the essential point first: it is a proposal only. It would apply only if the Coalition wins the next federal election and then makes the changes. Nothing in it is law, and current visa rules are unchanged.

The scale of what is proposed

Net overseas migration is the number of people who arrive to live in Australia, minus those who leave. The Coalition wants that figure at 100,000 a year in each of its first two years, settling around 160,000 by year four. Leaving the pandemic aside, 100,000 would be Australia's lowest level since 2004, close to what the country ran at for years in the late 1990s. The party adds that, four years in, migration relative to population would sit under the average of an earlier Coalition term.

Its own description is the biggest immigration cut the country has ever seen. The pitch to voters is that it would pick people with skills Australia is short of, cost the budget nothing, release housing and take pressure off frontline services.

The parts that matter most for skilled workers

For a UK electrician, nurse or engineer, the detail on work visas is what counts:

Nurses weighing New Zealand as well as Australia can read our guide to UK nurse registration in New Zealand, from TruMerit checks to the Nursing Council fee.

Permanent skilled places would keep their ceiling of 185,000 a year. Further out, the party says it could trim that ceiling so that migration never runs ahead of the homes being finished, which ties the visa programme to its housing promise. Work visas would be pointed squarely at shortage skills. The biggest shift falls on temporary residents: around 650,000 fewer of them living in Australia across four years.

The plan does not say which temporary visas would shrink most, so it would be guesswork to read a particular visa into that figure. What it does signal is that skills in genuine shortage would stay the priority.

Students and graduates

Education takes a heavy share. The temporary graduate visa would go, most students could no longer bring family members as secondary applicants, and new student starts would drop to 240,000. A narrower post-study transitional visa would remain open to PhD holders, health and education graduates, and people who studied at regional universities.

The rest of the debate

The Coalition is not alone. A month earlier, the Labor Government set out changes of its own: tougher limits on students bringing relatives, action against people hopping between visas, and faster visas for skilled teachers, construction workers and farm staff. One Nation goes further still, with a plan to take 750,000 off net overseas migration across three years. On the other side, an independent MP warned that the Coalition approach could bring the fear and division of American and some European immigration rows to Australia.

What to do if you are planning a move

Today, nothing moves. Every cap and setting you read about on official pages stays as it is unless a future government passes changes in the usual way. So the practical steps stay the same:

If you are planning to stay long term, it is also worth knowing why the UK State Pension is frozen in Australia and New Zealand and what you can still decide before you go.

One piece of paperwork you can plan under today's rules is your UK police certificate: here is how long an ACRO police certificate stays valid for an Australian visa and when to order it.

If New Zealand is also on your list, read the five checks to make before accepting a New Zealand AEWV job offer.

If you are a nurse in the UK, registration is a step you can plan now: see our guide to UK nurse registration in Australia and the NMBA's faster pathways.

1. Check the visa that fits your occupation on the Department of Home Affairs visa listing.
2. Find out whether your trade or profession needs a skills assessment. UK qualifications such as an NVQ or a completed apprenticeship are usually assessed again in Australia.
3. Get your documents ready. If a UK police certificate is requested, it comes from ACRO Criminal Records Office.
4. Watch for official announcements rather than campaign headlines.

For more context, read what a migration cap could mean for skilled workers and why Australia's own figures point to needing more workers, then browse jobs in Australia for UK citizens.

#migration cuts #australia #opposition proposal #skilled visas #emigrate to australia from the uk