Home Affairs failed to complete a fit-for-purpose evaluation of its visa pilot for skilled refugees before advising the Immigration Minister to expand the program by 300 places, an audit report has revealed.
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The Australian National Audit Office pointed to multiple red flags from the department in a report published on Monday, including that advice given to Andrew Giles in July 2023 "did not contain fit-for-purpose analysis and does not satisfy the requirements of evaluation reporting".
The Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement, which began in July 2021 under the former Coalition government, allows Australian businesses to sponsor skilled refugees for visas on a permanent or temporary basis.
The former government expanded the program in March 2022 to 200 places, before Mr Giles extended it another two years in July 2023, and increased it to 500 places.
It comes as Mr Giles and his department face pressure over their handling of the High Court's NZYQ decision, with the Coalition accusing Mr Giles of throwing public servants under the bus on several occasions.
Audit questions department analysis and evidence
The audit office found the department's July 2023 brief to Mr Giles had provided "clear and succinct advice to support the minister's decisions" which was not informed by an evaluation of the pilot.
In its brief, the department told Mr Giles it had "received positive feedback from sponsoring business and candidates", but the audit office did not find evidence of how the department collated or verified this feedback, nor how it was benchmarked against similar programs.
While the department consulted one stakeholder - a not-for-profit called Talent Beyond Boundaries - in developing the program, the audit office also criticised it for failing to validate evidence.
![Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster accepted the report's findings. Picture by Gary Ramage Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster accepted the report's findings. Picture by Gary Ramage](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/143258707/790a1365-d9a9-4b6f-bb40-525b453d2da7.jpg/r0_0_4000_2649_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The department cited evidence from the not-for-profit in its brief, without completing its own "analysis or stakeholder engagement to understand how the experiences from the pilot could inform recommendations or validate the information provided by [Talent Beyond Boundaries]".
Mr Giles' office declined to comment on the audit report, referring the matter to Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, who also declined to comment.
Home Affairs secretary Stephanie Foster agreed with the findings of the report, adding the department was "actively seeking to mature the evaluation culture and practices across the organisation".
The department accepted all four of the recommendations targeted at it, including that it develop policies for evaluation and encourage engagement with responsible teams, ensure evaluation plans are developed, and that advice to government on pilot programs be based on evidence from the evaluation.
A departmental spokesperson also said that Home Affairs had "conducted an internal review of the pilot which informed advice to the minister".
"The department's advice to government on the future of the pilot beyond 30 June 2025 will be informed by an evaluation consistent with the Commonwealth Evaluation Policy," they said.
The report did not comment on the effectiveness of the program, which is understood to have granted 102 skilled refugees permanent residence in Australia to date, along with 143 of their family members.
Refugee Council of Australia CEO Paul Power said the pilot had "proven to be a win for all involved", matching businesses with talented staff who had been forcibly displaced by persecution or conflict.
"The Refugee Council hopes this program continues and is expanded into a formal ongoing part of the Skilled Migration Program," Mr Power said.
"The program is running effectively and has demonstrated that it has an important role both in filling skills gaps in Australia and in finding a pathway out of protracted displacement for people who have much to offer the community that welcomes them."