Online ads seeking to exclusively employ migrants holding or capable of obtaining an sc457 visa or other temporary work visas are making their rounds on various job sites, according to a Fairfax media report.

There are reports that the Victorian anti-discrimination watchdog has rejected calls to conduct an inquiry into whether such ads were in breach of equal opportunity law, indicating that it’s a matter for the courts.

However Federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz has warned that employers advertising for foreign workers exclusively over Australian candidates must be referred to authorities.

"Skilled foreign workers provide an important supplement to the Australian workforce where there is a shortage of workers, however Australian workers always have first preference," he said in a media report.

Some of the ads posted state as follows, "I am looking for someone who is interested in getting a 457 visa in hospitality”; “ ... I can sponsor two cooks and one manager [for] the restaurant,"; and "highly prefer" candidates seeking work visas.”

Assistant Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash told Fairfax that companies sponsoring 457 visa-holders were subject to strict sponsorship obligations, which included a commitment to non-discriminatory employment and having to demonstrate that suitable Australian candidates were not available.

In a move to make Australia more attractive to the media and entertainment industry and encourage them to bring productions to Australia, the Government is looking to remove most of the red-tape around Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa (Subclass 420) which is the visa issued to performers, actors, entertainers and film crews.

The proposals virtually suggest that credible applicants should be able to just walk-in to Australia to do their work as it notes that currently, “the Subclass 420 Regulations are cumbersome and at times restrictive”.

Sharp cost increases are slated for these privileges by the discussion paper on the review which in summary is considering the following:

• Remove the Sponsorship and Nomination requirement;
• Remove the requirement for certification from the Arts Minister Requirements, which is the grant of the Arts Certificate;
• Remove the requirement by the sponsor to demonstrate that more Australians than foreigners would be employed in the project ie Net Employment Benefit (NEB);
• Remove the need for Union consultation;

Should these options be found to be excessive in the consultation process, then alternatives include the consideration of easing up on the current requirements instead of completely removing them. But how that will remove the administrative burden, is yet to be seen.

The sc400 is considered a low-risk visa with the discussion paper on the review stating “the existing regulatory requirement for sponsorship and nomination seems somewhat excessive for this low risk cohort who is seeking entry for such short periods of stay.”

Over half of these visas are granted to applicants from the United States of America and the United Kingdom. During the 2013-2014 financial year, more than 90 per cent of Subclass 420 visas holders stayed in Australia less than 12 weeks (over 80 per cent of these stayed less than 27 days).

Student visa applications face greater scrutiny as cancellations due to fake documentation increase by three-fold. Overseas education brokers are being blamed for the threefold increase in the number of student visas cancelled by DIBP over the last two years for falsifying English test results and financial documentation. DIBP however is targeting students without announcing any measures to curb the fraudsters who may be encouraging and facilitating the applications.

The student visa is perhaps one of the easiest visas and quickest visas to obtain for a stay in Australia exceeding 12 months particularly under the streamlined visa processing program (SVP). However, the student visa advisory sector is also one of that is flooded with fraudsters acting as education broker who work unfettered and ungoverned by the professional code of conduct administered by the MARA. This is simply because DIBP  has not banned unregistered migration practice and still accepts applications from unregistered practitioners.

There is no requirement for such brokers who enrol students and arrange student visas to be registered by the MARA. Therefore there are no repercussions for flouting the law and even potentially misguiding students that all they are doing is ‘legitimate’. It is really up the prospective students to ask the question, "Show me your MARA registration papers" or search the MARA Register of Agents before they part with their money.

Figures obtained by The Australian show 7061 student visas were cancelled in the last financial year, with 4930 cancelled the previous year and 1978 cancellations in the 2012 financial year. In addition the Australian notes that a DIBP also identified about 1000 “course hopping” international students, who arrived on streamlined student visas but later transferred to unaccredited colleges - a practice that is illegal.

DIBP however has decided to target students in its efforts to sort out this mess. There is no indication that it intends to do anything about their unregistered brokers.

Up to 25 senior managers at the Immigration Department will learn the news of their sackings within weeks, DIBP has confirmed. In addition to the purge of the top ranks, about 100 of Immigration's 530 middle managers at Executive Level 2 classification are expected to be clearing out their desks by the end of 2015, according to a report in The Canberra Times.

DIBPs new boss, Mike Pezzullo is expected to personally decide who exactly he will sack next month as part of the department of immigration’s merger with Customs.

“Insiders expect the casualties to be heaviest at Immigration as part of what is being called the "Customisation" of the department and a "reverse takeover" by the smaller Customs agency” states The Canberra Times.

A departmental spokeswoman told The Canberra Times."SES staff in both the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and Customs and Border Protection have been engaged in an ongoing process of assessment and feedback,"

"The future organisation structure and placement of staff is in development and will be communicated with the SES in early February

Fairfax media has claimed to have uncovered a widespread abuse of student visa holders by employers who are paying them as little as $8 per hour, an amount which is less than half the minimum wage of $16.87 an hour.

Foreign students, who have to quickly settle down to focus on their studies as well get some paid work with a limited skill set to cover high rents, are undoubtedly a desperate lot who are falling victim to unscrupulous employers.

Try asking a foreign student waiter what the minimum wage is in Australia. Chances are they would be clueless and some may even think $8 per hour is generous compared to countries living below the poverty line.

It has to make you wonder how well these sons and daughters are protected from other workplace abuses and injuries. Most are probably fearful of reporting it due to DIBPs tough stance on visa work conditions and some students are perhaps just unaware of their rights in the workplace.

According to The Age, in January 2013, Fairfax Media uncovered “a disturbing number of restaurants across Sydney that grossly underpaid staff and flouted regulations. The 40-odd premises paid workers as little as $8 an hour.