Earlier this week, the government confirmed its plans to commence the Skilling Australians Fund. Commencing on 12th August 2018, the Act relates to the ‘nomination training contribution charge’.
Put simply, employers nominating to bring foreign workers into Australia for temporary or permanent skilled work visas will be hit with a nomination fee. Employers will be asked to pay a fee for each year they expect the visa entrant to be working in Australia. These fees will significantly increase the cost of nominating foreign workers and are required to be paid in full when the application is lodged.
The fees payable will be determined by company turnover. Companies will incur a charge of $1,200 per year of the proposed visa period while businesses turning over in excess of AUD 10 million will be expected to pay $1,800 per year of the proposed visa period.
Where nomination relates to permanent visas, companies will incur a one-off charge of $3,000 or where a company turns over more than AUD 10 million, there will be a one-off fee of $5,000.
How Do These Charges Effect Current Migration Regulations?
Currently, sponsors under the temporary sponsored work visa program or employers nominating a worker for the Direct Entry stream must adhere to the following:
- They must spend the equivalent of at least 2% of their business’ payroll contributions to an industry training fund or
- They have to spend the equivalent of one percent of their business’ payroll on the training of Australians.
The introduction of the Skilling Australians Fund replaces these requirements.
The money raised through the Skilling Australians Fund will be used to fund vocational education and training for Australian workers.
The Skilling Australians Fund is a user pays system and while the government is expecting this to be a huge revenue earner, it’s possible they may have over-estimated it’s earning potential. Due to the end of the resources boom and the tightening of immigration requirements, there has been a significant decline in the number of foreign workers coming into Australia. This will no doubt impact the government’s income projections.
