Why do employers really recruit workers on the sc457 visas? Is it due to a skills shortage or is it because employers prefer foreign workers, or something else?

Business groups insist they need foreign workers due to a skills shortage while unions claim that the sc457 workers are among the key causes of the high unemployment levels in Australia.

Some statistical perspective might help. There are some 11.7 million currently employed in Australia according to ABS statistics. Workers on the 457 visa scheme account for about 106,750 jobs. This is less than 1 per cent of the workforce.

In addition, the DIBP figures indicate that as Australia’s GDP rises, the numbers of 457 workers rise in concert with it. This makes sense because the 457 scheme allows Australian business to tap into skilled foreign resources as the economy demands.

With unemployment rates sitting above 6 per cent, the number of sc457 workers has fallen in the last year by an estimated 4.5%.

As expected, the government has announced that it will raise revenue by increasing visa and citizenship charges in the new financial year on the argument that applicants should meet the full cost of the service.

An estimated AU$440 million is expected to be raised over the next four years by increasing visa application charges from 1 July 2015 and citizenship charges are expected to see a sharp rise from January 2016.

Aside from this, foreign property investors in Australia are set for greater scrutiny and charges. Foreign investors wanting to buy real estate in Australia will be charged an application fee of between $5,000 and $10,000, depending on the value of the property, raising $650 million for the budget over four years. Mr Hockey said stricter penalties will also apply to foreign investors who break the rules.

Working holiday visa holders are in for a shock as they will be required to pay about a third of their earnings in taxes. From July 2016, those on a working holiday in Australia will no longer enjoy a tax free threshold of up to $18,200, and will instead be forced to pay 32.5 per cent tax from their first dollar earned. That measure will save the budget $540 million over four years.

There will also be efficiencies made in visa, refugee, humanitarian processing and by simplifying skilled migration and temporary visa programs to the tune of $168.1 million over four years.

In the upcoming budget, the federal government is expected to allocate an extra AU$400 million to the department of immigration with staffing levels expected to hit a record 6000 officers within the next few years. Hundreds of people are currently being interviewed for jobs.

Labelled as the ‘once in a generation overhaul’ the department is the only one, other than Defence, to receive a funding boost. The new funds are to support the major reorganisation for bigger flows of people and goods in and out of Australia under a more ‘rigorous enforcement regime’ according to a report in The Sydney Morning Herald.

Part of the funds will go toward arming of officers; taking over Australia's immigration detention network; and taking up positions on the frontline at airports, shipping terminals and at sea to gather intelligence and detain offenders.

A new website, Border.gov.au, will also be launched to replace the websites for the formerly separate Immigration and Customs departments.

In a major speech on the future of the merged agencies in April, Immigration Department secretary Michael Pezzullo said the focus of the new department would be to "manage a system of border processes by which we will oversee the flow of people, and goods, to and from our nation".

RMAs are set to face-off directly with lawyers in the migration advisory business with the Coalition government planning to remove the present requirement of OMARA registration for lawyers who hold a law practising certificate.

Dual-registration for lawyers was implemented in 1992 as it was held that the various state and territories legal profession authorities did not deal with complaints against lawyers “with adequate timeliness or vigour”.  Submissions by the Law Council of Australia however argued that with the formation of the Legal Services Commissioner, that concern has been irrelevant for a long time and lawyers should no longer be subject to dual-registration and dual-monitoring by two authorities.

As at 30 June 2014 there were 1673 migration agents with legal practicing certificates in Australia. This equates to approximately 32 per cent of all practicing migration agents. When the review’s recommendation is implemented, the estimated 60,000 lawyers registered with the state and territories legal practitioner’s authorities will be able to provide migration advice under those licenses with no obligation to, or scrutiny by the OMARA.

The recommendation goes against 2007-2008 Hodges Review on the issue which recommended that lawyers remain subject to OMARA registration in order to provide consumers clarity and consistency of service standards.

The report has rejected calls to set up an independent commissioner comparable to that in the legal profession. It said that given the relatively small size of the migration advice profession, the creation of an independent statutory body to perform the role of the OMARA would be unsustainable. It added that in addition, the size of the sector will be reduced significantly with the removal of lawyers from the scheme.

A blanket ban disallowing the counting of volunteer work for the purposes of qualifying for a second work holiday visa has been the response of the department of immigration to the alleged widespread abuse of the sc417 visa programme.

There will be nothing to stop legitimate volunteers working for worthy causes which deliver valuable community services but their good intentions will not be allowed to be counted towards eligibility for a second visa.

The reforms are part of the government’s new measures to increase the integrity of the program. The change essentially require those seeking to apply for a second Working Holiday visa to produce an official payslip from their employer, demonstrating they have completed their regional work component. A DIBP media release states that the change will take some time to introduce, and is not yet in effect, so it does not impact upon current second Working Holiday visa applications at present.

The damage of this blanket ban on voluntary work however could see the end of organisations like Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) which has some 2,600 hosts in Australia.

"If the government brings in this business of backpackers needing to produce a payslip to get their 88 days to extend their visa for a year, that's going to hurt the WWOOF organisation quite a bit," Lismore farmer Geof Bugden told the ABC recently. Mr Bugden relies on WWOOF workers.

WWOOF essentially link backpackers to organic farmers by giving them the opportunity to work on Australian organic farms, exchanging 4 - 6 hours work per day for meals and accommodation, usually in the farmer’s family home.