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In his speech to the National Press Club on 17 September 2026, the Minister for Home Affairs, Immigration and Citizenship announced that the Australian Government will be adding a new capacity to the points test so that “particular skills” will be awarded additional points. Minister Burke explained that the key purpose of this change will be to ensure that construction trades are prioritised under the points test.
The points test is a key feature of skilled migration visas not requiring sponsorship from an Australian employer, including the Skilled Independent visa (Subclass 189), the Skilled Nominated visa (Subclass 190), and the Skilled Work Regional (Provisions) visa (Subclass 491)/ Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (Subclass 191) pathways to permanent residence. Points are awarded under categories to distinguish applicants on matters such as age, qualifications and work experience.
Minister Burke announced that the points test will be changed so that “anyone who is skilled in the housing trades will get the same number of points as though it were a university qualification”. For tradespeople with a points score of 60 points, this could make a critical difference in allowing them to meet the minimum points score of 65 points. However, if additional points are going to be awarded simply on the basis of having a trade qualification it is difficult to see how this will make much difference to tradespeople who have a score of 65 points or more because invitations are issued on an occupation specific basis – so increasing points for an occupation will not create an advantage for an individual. Construction occupations are already afforded priority processing under Ministerial Direction 119 so it would be an increase in the number of invitations issued to trade occupations that would have the greatest impact.
Alternatively, it may be that the Minister’s reference to “particular skills” is a reference to an allocation of points for skills that are more specific than occupation categories, which may be used by the Government to give priority to particular housing construction related trade skills not neatly captured by ANZSCO occupation categories or general qualification categories. We wait to see the particular wording of the new regulation that will implement this change.
David Brooks, Associate
Kinslor Prince Lawyers