Introduction
In the years since 1945 when the population of Australia was only 7 million, of which 90% had been born in Australia, over 6 million immigrants from more than 170 countries have settled in Australia and made it their home.
Immigration and natural population growth have now caused the number of Australians to increase approximately 19 million, of which over 40% were either born outside the country or have at least one parent who was. This makes Australia truly a country of immigrants and it continues to welcome migrants who can contribute to the future strength and well-being of the country and its people.
 

There are several Australian Immigration and Australian Visa options for potential Australian migrants. Read about the main Australian Visa and Australian migration options.

There are two programs designed to help people wanting to come to Australia permanently.

One is the migration program which is made up of:

a skill migration stream, which has a number of categories for people who have particular occupation skills, outstanding talents or business skills;
a family migration stream, where people can be sponsored by a relative who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident;
special eligibility migrants, who are former citizens or residents wanting to return to Australia, or certain New Zealanders.

The other is the Humanitarian Program

The second program is the separate humanitarian program which is designed for refugees and others in special humanitarian need. A major component of the humanitarian program is the offshore resettlement Program, which assists people in humanitarian need overseas for whom resettlement in another country is the only option.

The onshore protection component is for those people already in Australia who arrived on temporary visas or in an unauthorised manner, and who claim Australia’s protection.