Dan Engles the Director of Visa Solutions Australia claims that leaks which have emerged ahead of next month’s major migration shake-up, indicate the
Government will adopt a zero-tolerance approach to companies which don’t offer
jobs to local people under the impending visa shake-up.
The new Temporary Skills Shortage Visa scheme will replace
the 457.
Dan Engles says companies will be caught out if they continually cast their net
overseas for their workforce.
“We’re talking about
the ‘non-discriminatory workforce test’ which has been banded about. The
Australian Government wants to stop companies from having a workforce which
predominantly comes from overseas.”
“What we are going to see is that if they have more than 20%
of foreign staff, Department of Immigration and Border Protection officials
will step in and a company will have to prove that they’re not discriminating
against local workers and effectively come under scrutiny,” Mr Engles
explained.
“Employers will also have a duty to advertise a position on
a public online jobs board such as SEEK for minimum of 28 days before they can
start the process for a TSS visa for someone from overseas.”
For many occupations, the new visa will only be available
for two years and then a further two-year extension, but it’s emerged that
there will be a few exceptions.
“If a visa applicant is in a senior management position from
one of the 126 stipulated GATT countries then they’ll be eligible to work for
four years plus a further four years regardless of the visa stipulating a
two-year restriction. These will be for
positions within IT/Construction/Finance etc.
“They’ve also said they’ll be looking at providing special
provisions to those companies who need high-end specialist staff whose skillset
is unique and will need to be sourced globally.
A new streamlined so-called ‘Labour Agreement’ will be available for
accredited sponsors. These will be for larger companies such as BHP or Woodside,
which are well-known in WA and have a strong impact on industry in the state.”
Mr Engles outlined that the Minister Alan Tudge will have
responsibility for these new skilled visas while Peter Dutton will continue in
his role as Minister for Home Affair and Minister for Immigrationn and Border Protection.
