Business groups push for reforms to 457 visa
The campaign for reforms in the 457 visas are once again reignited by business groups in Australia, declaring that it is high time that ”misinformation” regarding the scheme that benefits skilled foreign workers be dispelled.
It is most likely that this move is just going to spark tensions with Australian unions due to the 457 visa for temporary skilled migrants, however, business groups are adamant in lining up to say that the government should get rid of Labor-era labour market testing arrangements that are at present in the scheme.
A letter has been sent to the Productivity Commission from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) stating that it is better if the labour market testing is abolished. On the other hand, the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) is warning that this requirement is just going to add red tape to the process.
This comes as a number of employer groups are preparing for a different review of the salary threshold for occupations which can be filled by workers who are holding 457 visas, in the newest inquiry that is probably going to spark controversy over the skilled migration visa scheme.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has foreshadowed the argument against the increase in the income threshold for 457 skilled worker visas that are beyond inflation and is arguing that employers located in regional areas should have the capabilities to hire skilled foreign workers on a salary that is at a discount to the threshold, so long as this was in agreement to the market rates of Australia for the people in that specific regional area.
Ms Jenny Lambert, the employment, education, and training director of ACCI, stated that there seems to be ”misinformation” that foreign workers are taking jobs away from Australians.
”That is the wrong basis to move forward,” Ms Lambert said yesterday.
It is by the end of April that the report from the review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold is expected to be submitted.
The Australian government agreed to bring forward the review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold – which is currently set at fifty three thousand nine hundred – under a deal with Labor to end the wrangling over the China and Australia free trade pact, otherwise known as ChAFTA.
The review is not just going to look at the appropriate level that would be most suited for the threshold, it is also going to look at the roles of indexation as well as regional concessions for the threshold.
During the debate over ChAFTA, it was insisted by Labor that the threshold be increased to fifty seven thousand dollars. However, this push was dropped after the revelation that this kind of pricing would exclude some rural areas out of the scheme should this push through.
Ms Lambert said that the threshold should hold at its present level though there were still good points of argument that were raised for the sake of indexation and inflation.
For regional areas however, there was an argument that a discount be made because there is a difference between regional and metropolitan labour markets.
”The higher you lift the threshold the less businesses and positions would be eligible to have someone come in on a 457,” Ms Lambert stated. ”And that creates real economic problems not just for the business who can not find a skilled worker, but for the regional community who may not have the services available to them because the skilled worker is not available at the price that the region can afford.”
Ms Lambert also stressed that employers should not be able to pay foreign members of their staff less than what equivalent local workers are going to be paid in that region.
Areas hit by skills shortages at that moment, areas such as in the Northern Territory, can ask for something that is called a ”designated area migration agreement.”
Employers can seek concessions of up to ten per cent that is below the threshold under the designated area migrated agreement, so long as the cost of living in that area is lower compared to the national average, and that the foreign workers there are being paid the same as Australians.
Ms Lambert however, said that businesses were not actually guaranteed there would be such agreements to cover them in their areas.
In the mean time, ACCI has made a submission to another review into migration being conducted by the Productivity Commission, saying that it does not agree with a draft finding in support of labour market testing as the testing is the same as ”asking employers to walk through wet cement.”
Mr Scott Marklamb, the executive director of AMMA’s policy and public affairs, said that while there are some highly skilled occupations that were exempt from doing the testing, the ”resource employers support the abolition of this needless and burdensome requirement.”
It was stated by a spokesman for the Business Council of Australia that it consistently called for the elimination of the labour market testing.
SOURCE: The Australian (newspaper)
It is most likely that this move is just going to spark tensions with Australian unions due to the 457 visa for temporary skilled migrants, however, business groups are adamant in lining up to say that the government should get rid of Labor-era labour market testing arrangements that are at present in the scheme.
A letter has been sent to the Productivity Commission from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) stating that it is better if the labour market testing is abolished. On the other hand, the Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) is warning that this requirement is just going to add red tape to the process.
This comes as a number of employer groups are preparing for a different review of the salary threshold for occupations which can be filled by workers who are holding 457 visas, in the newest inquiry that is probably going to spark controversy over the skilled migration visa scheme.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has foreshadowed the argument against the increase in the income threshold for 457 skilled worker visas that are beyond inflation and is arguing that employers located in regional areas should have the capabilities to hire skilled foreign workers on a salary that is at a discount to the threshold, so long as this was in agreement to the market rates of Australia for the people in that specific regional area.
Ms Jenny Lambert, the employment, education, and training director of ACCI, stated that there seems to be ”misinformation” that foreign workers are taking jobs away from Australians.
”That is the wrong basis to move forward,” Ms Lambert said yesterday.
It is by the end of April that the report from the review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold is expected to be submitted.
The Australian government agreed to bring forward the review of the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold – which is currently set at fifty three thousand nine hundred – under a deal with Labor to end the wrangling over the China and Australia free trade pact, otherwise known as ChAFTA.
The review is not just going to look at the appropriate level that would be most suited for the threshold, it is also going to look at the roles of indexation as well as regional concessions for the threshold.
During the debate over ChAFTA, it was insisted by Labor that the threshold be increased to fifty seven thousand dollars. However, this push was dropped after the revelation that this kind of pricing would exclude some rural areas out of the scheme should this push through.
Ms Lambert said that the threshold should hold at its present level though there were still good points of argument that were raised for the sake of indexation and inflation.
For regional areas however, there was an argument that a discount be made because there is a difference between regional and metropolitan labour markets.
”The higher you lift the threshold the less businesses and positions would be eligible to have someone come in on a 457,” Ms Lambert stated. ”And that creates real economic problems not just for the business who can not find a skilled worker, but for the regional community who may not have the services available to them because the skilled worker is not available at the price that the region can afford.”
Ms Lambert also stressed that employers should not be able to pay foreign members of their staff less than what equivalent local workers are going to be paid in that region.
Areas hit by skills shortages at that moment, areas such as in the Northern Territory, can ask for something that is called a ”designated area migration agreement.”
Employers can seek concessions of up to ten per cent that is below the threshold under the designated area migrated agreement, so long as the cost of living in that area is lower compared to the national average, and that the foreign workers there are being paid the same as Australians.
Ms Lambert however, said that businesses were not actually guaranteed there would be such agreements to cover them in their areas.
In the mean time, ACCI has made a submission to another review into migration being conducted by the Productivity Commission, saying that it does not agree with a draft finding in support of labour market testing as the testing is the same as ”asking employers to walk through wet cement.”
Mr Scott Marklamb, the executive director of AMMA’s policy and public affairs, said that while there are some highly skilled occupations that were exempt from doing the testing, the ”resource employers support the abolition of this needless and burdensome requirement.”
It was stated by a spokesman for the Business Council of Australia that it consistently called for the elimination of the labour market testing.
SOURCE: The Australian (newspaper)
