Australia requires just half the anticipated rates of labor migration to meet the talent gap generated by a boom in the resources industry.

This is the claim made by a new report from Monash University researchers in the country, who have questioned current goals of 180,000 a year and noted many migrants are employed in professional roles in urban areas rather than the mining sector.

According to the team led by Bob Birrell at the Centre for Population and Urban Research, there will be growth in the employment pool of one million people over the coming ten years and this could allow the administration to cut planned migration in half.

The experts pointed to rising participation rates among older workers as another factor that could help to meet skills shortages.

"Australia needs a lower, but better-targeted immigration program," Dr Birrell stated. "The bulk of current migration has little to do with providing scarce skills to the resource industries."

Unemployment in the country stood below five per cent at 4.9 per cent during June 2011, unchanged from the previous month.

Posted by Sarah Dixon