What's New for Employer-Sponsored Workers

Strengthening the integrity of the subclass 457 program – 26 February 2013

Overview of changes being made to the Temporary Work (Skilled) (subclass 457) program which are intended to take effect from 1 July 2013.
See: Strengthening the integrity of the 457 program

Proposed Temporary Work visa changes – 1 November 2012

Summary of the Proposed changes being made to Temporary Work visas on 24 November 2012.
See: Temporary Work Visa changes

First court finding against 457 visa sponsor – 2 July 2012

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship today welcomed a Federal Magistrates Court decision against a Victorian 457 visa sponsor who underpaid a worker by $10 000.
See: First court finding against 457 visa sponsor

Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List – 1 July 2012

The Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) a single list of occupations will replace the State/Territory Nominated (STATSOL), the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENSOL), Subclass 442 Occupational Trainee and the Subclass 457 Skilled Occupation Lists and will determine occupations that applicants can nominate under these programs from 1 July 2012.
See: Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (Schedule 1 and Schedule 2) ( 97K B PDF file)

Update of the Skilled Occupation List and Sponsored Occupation List – 1 July 2012

The Skilled Occupation List (SOL) has been updated. There are four occupations added and four occupations have been removed. This annual update will be in effect from 1 July 2012.

In addition, the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) a single list of occupations will replace the State/Territory Nominated (STATSOL), the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENSOL), Subclass 442 Occupational Trainee and the Subclass 457 Skilled Occupation Lists and will determine occupations that applicants can nominate under these programs from 1 July 2012.
See: Skilled Occupation List and Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List ( 66K B PDF file)

Increase to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold – 1 July 2012

From 1 July 2012, the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), has been indexed by 4.2 per cent, in line with the Australia-wide increase in average weekly earnings. This has increased TSMIT from $49 300 to $51 400.
See: Increase to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold

Template labour agreement for fast food employers

Following an extensive consultation process, the department has established a template labour agreement for employers in fast food businesses. This will help meet identified shortages of qualified managers and supervisors particularly for employers in regional areas competing with the resources sector for workers.

There are limited visa options for sponsoring workers in management and supervision roles in fast food environments but demand for these workers is high. The industry-wide template labour agreement provides certainty for employers experiencing these skills shortages as expectations are clear: the parameters of a template agreement are non-negotiable, detailing English language requirements, pay, qualification, and work experience requirements, and training benchmarks.

Fast food employers will be able to sponsor Diploma-qualified Retail Managers with five years’ experience and Retail Supervisors with Certificate IV qualifications and four years’ experience, provided they:

• can demonstrate that they have been attempting to recruit Australian workers
• are training their workforce
• can pay market salary rates above the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold.

For further information contact the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
Email: labour.agreement.section@immi.gov.au

Permanent employer-sponsored visa program reforms – 9 March 2012

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, the Hon Chris Bowen MP has announced permanent employer-sponsored program reforms to be implemented from 1 July 2012.
See: Permanent Employer-Sponsored Visa Program Reforms – 9 March 2012

SkillSelect – 27 January 2012

SkillSelect is an online system that enables skilled workers interested in migrating to Australia to record their details to be considered for a skilled visa through an Expression of Interest (EOI).  People intending to migrate to Australia may be found and nominated for skilled visas by Australian employers or state and territory governments, or they may be invited by the Australian Government to lodge a visa application.

SkillSelect will be implemented on 1 July 2012.
See: SkillSelect

Subclass 457 visa holders – your rights at work

The Fair Work Ombudsman and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship work together to help you understand your legal rights when working in Australia.
See: 457 Visa Holders – Your Rights at Work (188KB PDF file)

Subclass 457 visa program tourism and hospitality industries information session November and December 2011

The department conducted a series of information sessions on the use of the Subclass 457 visa program in the tourism and hospitality industries during November and December 2011. Information including the presentation can be found on the Migration Blog.
See: Migration Blog – Guide to the 457 Program for the Tourism and Hospitality Industries

Sponsorship Accreditation – 7 November 2011

Employers may now apply for accredited status which will qualify them for priority processing for all subclass 457 nominations and visa applications.

To qualify for Accredited Status, sponsors will have to demonstrate several characteristics in addition to the standard sponsorship requirements at the time of application.
See: Sponsorship Accreditation Eligibility

Regional classification for Perth and changes to Regional Certifying Body network – 12 September 2011

Following the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship's recent announcement to include Perth in the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS), a number of changes have been made effective from 12 September 2011:

• regional postcodes for the RSMS to include Perth
• the inclusion of Perth as a regional area for family sponsored applications through the regional General Skilled Migration program.

In summary, Perth has been classified as regional for the following migration programs:

• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Subclass 119 & 857)
• Skilled Regional Sponsored (provisional) (Subclass 475)
• Skilled Regional Sponsored (provisional) (Subclass 487)
• Skilled Regional (permanent) (Subclass 887).

The Minister also approved the following changes to the Regional Certifying Body network:

• the inclusion of Regional Development Australia Goldfields Esperance in Western Australia
• name change of the certifying body in the ACT to the ACT Economic Development Directorate.

Subclass 457 visa program – May 2011 statistics – 5 July 2011

The department has released the latest statistics for the subclass 457 visa program. The information shows that visa applications for the subclass 457 visa program continue to grow as the economy maintains low unemployment. The May 2011 visa application figures are the highest since November 2008. The total number of primary 457 visa holders in Australia at the end of May was 72  270.
See: Subclass 457 - Temporary Work (skilled) visa statistics

Changes to the Employer Nomination Scheme – 1 July

From 1 July 2011 a number of changes will be introduced to the Employer Nomination Scheme(ENS).These include:

• the removal of Slaughterer (ANZSCO 831212) from the Employer Nomination Skilled Occupation List (ENSOL)
• the addition of Dog Handler or Trainer (ANZSCO 361111) to the ENSOL as described in the ANZSCO
• the inclusion of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) in the ENSOL as an assessing authority solely for applicants that the organisation wishes to recruit for teaching or research positions
• the minimum salary for ENS has been indexed. The new ENS minimum salary level has increased from
  • $65 020 to $67 556 for certain computing professional occupations
  • $47 480 to $49 330 for all other occupations.

Note: Market salary rates do not apply to ENS as they do to the Subclass 457 visa program. Employers must instead ensure the position pays a salary that satisfies the minimum salary specified for the occupation.

New Skilled Migration blog has been launched – 21 June 2011

The department launched a new blog related to skilled migration. The blog will discuss a range of skilled migration programs and policy, with the aim to better inform the public debate about skilled migration. The first post discusses the development of Enterprise Migration Agreements for the resource sector.
See: Skilled Migration Blog

Enterprise Migration Agreements – 10 May 2011

On 10 May 2011, the Government announced the introduction of Enterprise Migration Agreements (EMAs), a new temporary migration initiative to help address the skill needs of the resource sector. EMAs will allow major resource projects to access overseas labour for genuine skill vacancies.
See: Enterprise Migration Agreements

Regional Migration Agreements – 10 May 2011

On 10 May 2011, the Government announced the introduction of Regional Migration Agreements (RMAs), localised migration initiatives that will bring together employers, local and state government and unions to cooperate on addressing local labour needs.
See: Regional Migration Agreements

Public Interest Criterion from 2 April 2011

On 2 April 2011, the department introduced the Fraud Public Interest Criterion (PIC) 4020, which has been applied to certain visa subclasses in the Skilled and Employer Sponsored Migration Programs.
See: Document Fraud

Eligible Occupation List and English language exemption

Changes to the Subclass 457 visa Eligible Occupation List came into effect on 15 February 2011. Seven occupations were removed from the list while four were added. English language exemptions for some occupations were also slightly modified.
See:
Eligibility Nomination
English Language Requirements