Thousands less migrant visas granted

The number of migrants granted permanent visas in Australia has fallen by roughly 6400 within a year.

Immigration officials issued 183,608 permanent visas in 2016-17, down from 190,000 the previous year.

More than two-thirds of visas were granted to plug labour market gaps, with 56,220 migrants accepted under family streams.

The major source countries were India (21.2 per cent), China (15.4 per cent) and the United Kingdom (9.3 per cent).