MacroBusiness Access Subscriber Only Content at 12:15 am on May 27, 2021 | 8 comments The skilled stream is the largest component of Australia’s permanent migration program accounting for 61% (110,000) of Australia’s 179,000 permanent migrants (including the humanitarian intake) before COVID hit in 2019: Australia’s permanent migrant intake is dominated by ‘skilled’ visas. Empirical survey data from the Department of Home Affairs’ Continuous Survey of Australia’s Migrants shows that Australia’s permanent migration program is failing to attract highly paid and highly skilled migrants to Australia. As show in the next summary table, recent permanent migrants experienced higher rates of unemployment and are paid less than the general population: