Skilled migrants from the defence, healthcare, teaching and construction sectors are being prioritised under the latest directive issued by the Home Affairs Minister as the Albanese Government works to reduce Australia’s overall intake of new arrivals. “Prioritising skilled migrants in occupations supporting law enforcement and Defence, and in healthcare, teaching, construction with a focus on housing, ensures the skilled migration program is providing the right skills in the right occupations.” “Prioritising skilled migrants already contributing to Australia supports a sensible, measured approach to provide the skilled workers Australia needs,” the document signed on July 24 explains. The Nightly has been told the Government has for several months been “fiddling with the dial” on various migration settings to bring down the Net Overall Migration (NOM) level. In the May budget the Albanese government announced that the 2026–27 permanent Migration Program would be set at 185,000 places, with an “approximate 70:30 split between the Skilled and Family Programs”.