As office workers steadily return to Sydney's CBD, Renee Baltov's barbershop in Martin Place is finally seeing a boom in customers.
But like many small business owners around Australia, Ms Baltov is faced with ongoing staff shortages and fears her dreams of expansion — she has a second shop nearby and is considering opening a third — may have to be put on hold.
Visa changes from 1 July will offer skilled workers new pathways to permanent residency, more places for working holiday makers and the chance for graduates impacted by COVID-19 border closures to make up for their time locked out of Australia.
Ben Watt, a lawyer with migration agents VisaEnvoy, said the changes presented “exciting” prospects for some, with a focus on supporting the economic recovery from COVID-19.
Glenn Barber doesn't like to think what would have happened to his engineering business in regional western Victoria if he didn't make the decision to employ workers from overseas.
"They've played a tremendous role the past few years as labour has just been harder to obtain," he said.
As Australia continues to battle a long-standing shortage of skilled workers, experts are asking whether migration is the best approach to solving the country's labour crisis.
On Monday, the federal government announced construction managers, nurses and chefs are among just some of the top 10 jobs most in demand over the next five years in Australia.
The backlog of skilled worker visas is a "hopeless situation" but the government is working as fast as it can to get them processed, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.
As businesses across multiple industries indicate they're being hampered by skills shortages, it's estimated more than 100,000 visas for overseas workers are yet to be processed.
Ghislaine Maxwell has failed to pay some US$878,000 ($1.27 million) in fees to two lawyers who defended the now-convicted British socialite against criminal charges she helped Jeffrey Epstein abuse teenage girls, the lawyers' firm said in a new lawsuit.
Maxwell, 60, was convicted in December of sex trafficking and is serving a 20-year prison sentence over her role in recruiting and grooming girls for Epstein, a financier and registered sex offender
Spanking is staging a comeback this school year in the classrooms of one small town in southwestern Missouri, where the district will now allow corporal punishment for any unruly student whose parents give their blessing.
In Cassville, about 50 miles west of Branson, administrators this week notified parents of the new policy at an open meeting and handed out consent forms to sign, according to a parent who attended the meeting.
Scott Morrison's secret appointment to five ministerial portfolios will be investigated by a former High Court judge in an independent inquiry announced by the Albanese government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the inquiry into his predecessor's actions will be held "at arm's length" from the government and provide "transparency" about what went on.
