Australian Immigration Daily News

With first dose vaccination rates at over 78 per cent and double dose rates nationwide at 55 per cent and on track to reach 70 per cent in some jurisdictions over the next week, our government has been finalising plans so Australian families can be reunited, Australian workers can travel in and out of our country, and we can work towards welcoming tourists back to our shores.

Within weeks, large parts of the country will be moving to Phase B and then to Phase C of the National Plan to safely reopen Australia and to stay safely open. Under Phase C, international travel is on track to reopen safely to fully vaccinated Australian travellers.

Source: Next-steps-to-reopen-the-world.pdf

Overview of the Disallowable Legislative Instrument

The Migration Amendment (Australian Agriculture Workers) Regulations 2021 (the AAW Regulations) amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (the Migration Regulations) to support the Government’s objective to fill labour shortages in primary industry sectors.

COVID-19 has impacted Australia’s agriculture sector by limiting the supply of overseas workers, while COVID-19 related travel restrictions and practical difficulties have impeded international and domestic movement. The departure of temporary migrants has placed further pressure on the supply of low and semi-skilled workers, in particular, seasonal workers in primary industry sectors.

Despite temporary measures introduced to encourage Australian workers and temporary visa holders to relocate and take up work in the agriculture sector, the Government continues to receive reports of growers unable to harvest crops due to labour shortages. The Australian Agriculture Worker (AAW) Program will provide the agriculture sector with a wider pool of workers to draw from where Australian workers and workers available through Pacific labour mobility schemes are not sufficient to meet primary industry labour needs in Australia.

Source: Migration-Amendment-Australian-Agriculture-Workers-Regulations-2021.pdf 

and Migration-Amendment-Aus-Ag-Worker-Regs-2021-Explanatory-Statement.pdf

Migration (arrangements for Visitor (Class FA) visa applications) Instrument (LIN 21/056) 2021
This instrument operates for the Minister to specify the approved forms, place and manner (the arrangements) for making a valid visa application for a Visitor (Class FA) visa. The Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa (subclass 600) is the only subclass for the Class FA visa and has five streams: the Tourist stream, the Sponsored Family stream, the Business Visitor stream, the Approved Destination Status stream and the Frequent Traveller stream. The instrument specifies the arrangements for making a visa application for each stream.
Some or all of this item commenced on 30/09/2021
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2021L01339


Migration (LIN 20/046: Arrangements for Visitor (Class FA) Visa Applications) Instrument 2020
This instrument operates for the Minister to specify the approved forms, place and manner for making a valid visa application for a Visitor (Class FA) visa, and specify for the Approved Destination Status stream in the Visitor (Class FA) visa, which includes the Subclass 600 (Visitor) visa, the travel agents that may organise a tour of which an applicant must be intending to travel to Australia as a member of that tour.
As a response to the cancellation of visas as a direct consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, the instrument creates arrangements for applicants who are in Australia and who are former Visitor (Class FA) visa holders and whose visas were cancelled due to the risk of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern designated by the World Health Organisation, to the health, safety or good order the Australian community, or a segment of that community.
Item was repealed on 30/09/2021, and is no longer in force
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2020L00160

Source: Benchmark

The Australian Agriculture visa is being designed for primary industry sectors including horticulture, meat processing, dairy, wool, grains, fisheries (including aquaculture) and forestry.

The program will be operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, leveraging their experience managing the successful Pacific Labour Scheme.

The Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme will remain the priority source of temporary migrant workers for Australia’s agriculture sector. The Australian Agriculture visa will address any labour gaps that cannot be filled by Australian and Pacific labour.

 Source: Australian-Ag-visa.pdf