TomK

I've been following the discussions on www.monster.com.au and it seems that the situation for ICT professionals has become even worse in Australia than in the EU (most of it in 2002). Is there any risk that the points for ICT professionals will drop to 50 in the foreseeable future because of that?

newstartnz

That is perfectly possible. A quick look at the Skilled Occupation lists (eg http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/sol1.htm) shows that some professionals get 50 when (in my opinion) they have occupations just as advanced/ demanding as others getting 60. Without making any judgement whatsoever, I contrast for example Research and Development Manager 50 points, with Bricklayer 60 points. The points received seem to reflect how useful a skill might be in Aus. If ICT becomes full of unemployed IT specialists, Aus is hardly going to encourage more to come and one easy way to discourage applicants would be to reduce ICT points.

rajarajaraja

If AUS government has decided to drop the points for ICT professionals from 60 to 50, will it affect the applications which are already in the queue? Are the points for skill accessed based on the date of application?

thanks for your reply in advance.

TomK

They haven't actually lowered the points, it's just a possibility. One that might be good to keep in mind if you, like me, are planning to send in your papers a few months from now when points and rules might have changed.