Australia’s Covid-19 restrictions saw a significant drop in the country’s annual migrant intake. The easing of those restrictions raised questions about the structure of Australia’s immigration program. In September 2022, the government announced a comprehensive review of Australia’s migration system. That review delivered its findings to the government in March 2023, and was released publicly in April after fieldwork for this Poll had been completed.

A slim majority of Australians (53%) say the number of immigrants allowed into Australia should return to pre-Covid levels. This represents a rise of seven points on 2022. A quarter (26%) say immigration should be ‘lower than pre-Covid levels’, a fall of seven points from 2022, while 20% say it should be ‘higher than pre-Covid levels’.

Australians born overseas do not express significantly higher levels of support for increasing immigration (22%) than those born in Australia (18%). As with the broader population, about half of overseas-born Australians (55%) say immigration levels should be ‘around the same as pre-Covid levels’.

Immigration after Covid-19