The Department of Immigration & Border Protection (DIBP) is to undertake a review of Australia's 457 visa program.
A four-member panel, led by former public servant John Azarias, will conduct the review,
It has a mid-year deadline for its final report.
Also on the panel, which the assistant minister described as independent, are Professor Peter McDonald and ACCI director Jenny Lambert.
The Coalition last year opposed the former Labor government's June amendments to the Migration Act 1958, which reintroduced labour market testing (LMT) requirements for employers seeking to sponsor 457 visa workers and gave compliance powers to Fair Work inspectors.
ACTU secretary Dave Oliver says the Coalition's review is about helping employers fill job vacancies with international workers, and came "in the same month that saw the release of the worst unemployment figures in over a decade".
"This is appalling policy that will make it more difficult for the growing number of Australians who have lost their jobs to find work," he says.
A four-member panel, led by former public servant John Azarias, will conduct the review,
It has a mid-year deadline for its final report.
Also on the panel, which the assistant minister described as independent, are Professor Peter McDonald and ACCI director Jenny Lambert.
The Coalition last year opposed the former Labor government's June amendments to the Migration Act 1958, which reintroduced labour market testing (LMT) requirements for employers seeking to sponsor 457 visa workers and gave compliance powers to Fair Work inspectors.
ACTU secretary Dave Oliver says the Coalition's review is about helping employers fill job vacancies with international workers, and came "in the same month that saw the release of the worst unemployment figures in over a decade".
"This is appalling policy that will make it more difficult for the growing number of Australians who have lost their jobs to find work," he says.
