Union leaders have been dumped from the Coalition government's skilled migration advisory panel in an effort to stop the “rabid debate” about foreign worker exploitation.

The Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration (MACSM) has had a major overhaul with three union leaders dumped from the panel which advises the government “on visa and policy settings to optimise the contribution of skilled migration to Australia’s productivity and economy.” Only a single union representative now remains in the panel.

Heading the panel will be Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox who called for an end to the "rabid debate" over the alleged exploitation of foreign workers after being appointed to head the Abbott government's advisory panel on skilled migration.

Speaking to The Australian, Mr Willox said the previous council became bogged down in a "quite a destructive discussion" about 457 visa workers.

"We need to shift the debate," he said. "We had a rabid debate through 2012-13 on the whole issue of skilled migration and we need to shift the agenda a bit to have a holistic view around skilled migration's role in the overall skills mix, how it fits in with the training agenda and what the needs of business are, both in the short and long term," he said.

Mr Willox said he believed there were adequate safeguards currently to ensure any abuse of foreign workers could be detected and acted upon.

Lodge your applications now or face higher Visa charges and more trouble in loading it up over the next few weeks. DIBP has issued a statement warning of a number of significant system outages in the next few weeks.

It has warned there will be more system outages not only because of the system upgrades but also due to the expected overload in online applications.

“It is your responsibility to manage the completion of online lodgments, with the outage timeframes and potential system delays in mind. The department will take no responsibility for any negative consequences as a result of the outages” noted a statement from the DIBP.

With paper applications, the DIBP statement warns further that “It is your responsibility to ensure that you give yourself enough time for paper applications to be received by the department before 1 July 2015. Paper applications received post 1 July 2015 will incur the new VACs.”

As announced in the budget, the government will raise AU$440 million in revenue by increasing visa and citizenship charges on the argument that applicants should meet the full cost of the service.

Details of the imminent price hikes were recently provided by the DIBP include the following:

If you or your clients are waiting on a sc 189 decision, this financial year, then it looks like the wait will be a little longer. DIBP’s case officers are apparently informing applicants who call up their helpline that DIBP has stopped granting sc189 visa for this financial year because the quota for that visa subclass has been reached.

A reader of this blogsite wrote to us recently on the matter: “I'm a 189 visa applicant and I have a question. It's apparent that you're organization is the only place I can get accurate information on my question other than DIBP.

“Due to the lack (low number to none) of 189 visa grants in the past weeks there have been speculations that the overall visa grant limit for the 189 visa has been reached. On one of the expat forums where the Australian Skilled Migration Program is mainly discussed, a forum member posted that he had spoken to a DIBP official (probably a CO) and was told that "Visa issuance has stopped and no more grants are to be issued" and that "this period is just assessment of applications. If applications meet the acceptance criteria, finalization and Grants shall be issued in July" noted the writer.

Unfortunately there is nothing on DIBP’s website to indicate if the quota has been reached. The fact however is that visa numbers are capped and grants cease at some point around now as DIBP does distribute grants over the year.

It would undoubtedly make it easier for one and all if DIBP puts out a notice on its website when the quotas have been reached rather than leaving everyone guessing and jamming the helplines with connected queries.

Australia’s most populated state has become the first one to sign up ‘in-principle’ to the Safe Haven Enterprise Scheme (SHEV) which will give asylum seekers an alternative to the Temporary Protection Visa, with a five-year option to live and work in regional NSW, according to a media statement by NSW Premier Mike Bard.

Currently there are an estimated 32,000 asylum seekers in Australia eligible for refugee assessment and waiting for final determination, most of whom are living in communities on bridging visa. About a quarter of that number live in NSW, mostly in Sydney’s west and south-west.

Under the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV) scheme announced by the Premier, eligible asylum seekers will be able to apply to reside in NSW — excluding Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong — for five years, on the condition that they live and work in a country area.

 “This is good news for regional NSW as it will help provide labour in our regions while providing longer term security for these asylum seekers,” Baird said.

While there is no promise of permanent residency, asylum seekers will be able to apply for onshore visas granted they stay off welfare for a minimum of three-and-a-half years.

Those choosing to live in the city will give up to right to apply for an onshore visa and apply for a three-year Temporary Protection Visa instead

Another country has been added to the Work and Holiday visa program (sc462) which will enable up to 200 young Australians and 200 young Slovaks to experience each other's culture through the exchange programme.

Young Aussies and Slovaks can now explore and work in each other's countries under a reciprocal work and holiday visa arrangement announced recently by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop and Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash.

Minister Bishop, who met and signed the agreement with Slovak Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajčák during his three-day visit, said the new arrangement demonstrated the constructive and positive relationship between our two countries.

"This agreement will provide the opportunity for a culturally rich experience for the young adults of Australia and Slovakia and strengthen our already warm people-to-people links," Minister Bishop said.

"The new arrangement will allow up to 200 young people from both countries to enjoy a holiday in each other's country each year, during which they may undertake short term work and study," Minister Cash said adding,"Both countries will be working closely over the coming months to implement these changes and to complete all necessary legal and administrative processes to bring this visa into effect."

The date the change to the Work and Holiday (Subclass 462) visa comes into effect will be made available on the Department's website atwww.immi.gov.au.