Canberra — The Australian government confirmed on Tuesday that the permanent Migration Program will remain set at 185,000 places for the 2025–26 program year, maintaining the same planning level and settings as the 2024–25 program, the Home Affairs minister said.
The decision follows consultations with state and territory governments, which recommended keeping both the size and composition of the program unchanged and continuing to prioritise skilled migration to meet labour-market needs.
Under the announced planning level, places will continue to be allocated across the program’s three streams — skilled, family and humanitarian — with a stated emphasis on filling critical workforce shortages and supporting regional pathways. Officials said the continuity is intended to give employers and migration stakeholders certainty as broader migration settings are reviewed.
The move comes amid heated public debate about migration and housing pressures. Critics and some community groups argue the headline planning number understates total annual settlement impacts because temporary arrivals and other visa flows also affect population and services; defenders of the government say net overseas migration has fallen from its pandemic peak and that the permanent program figure is only one part of a complex system.
The announcement also rekindles partisan debate over alternatives: the parliamentary budget office previously costed a Coalition proposal that would have cut the permanent Migration Program to 140,000 places for 2025–26 (rising gradually thereafter), a plan the government has not adopted.
Employer groups and migration advisers welcomed the clarity, saying a steady planning level helps workforce planning, while the government urged would-be applicants and employers to consult official Home Affairs guidance for allocations, state nomination processes and stream-by-stream details.
