Assessing the effectiveness of skilled migrant programs for the Northern Territory

BACKGROUNDPopulation growth is a political and economic imperative for the Northern Territory, not least because its fast growing economy and high-churn population has translated to a persistent shortage of skilled workers. Although levering skilled and temporary international migration inflows has become a mechanism for meeting labour demands in the national context, for remote areas like the NT there has been at best mixed evidence on the effectiveness of national policies for the settlement and retention of migrants. This brief reports on a study conducted in 2012 to assess the effectiveness of the Regional Skilled Migration Scheme and State and Territory Nominated programs for the NT. Surveys were conducted with around 400 recently arrived international skilled migrants to assess rates of retention in sponsored occupations, with sponsoring employers and within the NT. Respondents were also asked about why they left the NT, if they had done so, and what their long term settlement intentions regarding locations were