Selling visas 'would undermine confidence'

Selling the right to migrate to Australia might raise $7.6 billion a year in revenue for a cash-strapped government, but even the Productivity Commission doesn't think it's a good idea.

The selling of visas to those who can pay without meeting other criteria would essentially place short-term revenue raising objectives ahead of medium to longer-term economic and social considerations, the commission says in a draft report on Australia's migrant intake.

Public confidence in the immigration system could also be undermined by such a system.

The commission said the merit-based immigration system used to allocate a significant number of permanent immigration places had served the interests of the broader community well.

So too had the focus on education and skills targeted immigrants.

A separate humanitarian quota, currently 13,750 a year, allowed Australia to meet its international responsibilities.

The commission says there is room for improvement by:

- Removing unnecessary barriers to immigrants getting jobs.

- Improving the effectiveness of settlement services, especially for humanitarian immigrants.

- Targeting of temporary worker visas to areas of genuine skill shortages.

- Investing in cost-effective measures to mitigate the risks of exploitation faced by migrant workers.

- Abolishing the investor visa streams.

- Establishing a more systematic and transparent framework for visa charging.

- Investing in data collection, integration and dissemination to support evidence-based policy.

Submissions on the draft report will be taken up to December 18.