As outlined in Tuesday’s federal budget, the government believes it will complete vaccinations for Australians by the end of the year, with international borders to reopen in 2022.
The budget has forecast that migration will not resume until mid-next year, and that it will be gradual.
But as the government has made designs on boosting the economy, jobs and workforce participation post-COVID, more will need to be done if borders remain closed, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) has said.
CEDA chief economist Jarrod Ball commented Australia will need to manage sustained economic growth, while juggling the “twin challenges” of an ageing population and a new fiscal reality.
The country will need an additional lift in business investment, he added, which will be “very challenging to achieve while borders remain closed”.
“Population growth is at the lowest level in a century. This is a stark shift for a country that enjoyed one of the highest rates of population growth among advanced economies in the last decade,” Mr Ball said.
“We need a much bigger investment in quarantine. With Australia’s slow vaccine rollout and the likelihood of quarantine remaining in place for at least the next two years, the federal government must move urgently to expand quarantine capacity.”
Net overseas migration is also forecast to drop even further than expected, with the budget papers projecting -96,000 in 2021, -77,400 next year, before ramping up again in 2023.
“We know Australian employers are crying out for skilled migrants – our members have been telling us this for months,” Mr Ball said.
“If we don’t find a way to increase our capacity, we risk losing out on the global talent we need to support growth and investment in fast-growing and recovering sectors.
