Goat farmers, actors,pilots,archaeologists, homoeopaths, nurses and carpenters are all among workers eligible to come to Australia through new regional visa pathways.

New Regional Migration Visas are now available for a range of professions

New skilled visas require skilled migrants to live and work regionally for three years to gain access to permanent residency. Goat farmers, actors,pilots,archaeologists, homoeopaths, nurses and carpenters are all among workers eligible to come to Australia through new regional visa pathways.

The federal government has allocated 25,000 places for the regional visas and the changes come alongside a push to reduce the nation's permanent migration program from 190,000 to 160,000. 

New visas have been launched to encourage zookeepers, architects, scientists, blacksmiths, naturopaths, surgeons and more to settle in regional areas. 

All of Australia except for Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane is classified as regional for the purposes of the regional migration visas. 

Perth and the Gold Coast were added to the eligible locations following lobbying from stakeholders.

Immigration Minister David Coleman has told Sky News the new visas will help ease population pressures on major cities while fulfilling the needs of regional communities.

"So if there are needs for more immigration in regional areas than we should seek to meet them. We've got numerous examples at the moment of regions saying we want more immigration. South Australia's premier has called for immigration of 15,000 people per year. We have got regions like the goldfields in WA with 1,000 or more jobs going begging. Warrnambool has been out saying that it needs more immigration."