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Caps on sc457 set to be removed
The Coalition government is pressing ahead with its promise to cut union rate tape on 457 visas.The ABC reports that the government has lifted the cap on sponsors that was introduced by the previous labour government.
The sc457 visa is designed to be responsive to employer needs for workers in particular industries and regions. Before the last election, the unions and the previous government claimed that there was widespread abuse of the program and as such foreigners were being favoured over Australians.
Under union pressure labour had introduced a series of measures which made it more difficult for employers to hire foreign workers. Among them was a cap on the number of approved nominations for sponsors.
Under the changes, employers are expected to be allowed to hire ‘any number of workers’ provided the relevant nomination, sponsorship and visa criteria are properly met. Details of the changes are expected to be released later today by the office of Senator Michaelia Cash, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women.
The Migration Alliance welcomes the changes. The sc457 has to be driven by the findings of the Australian Productivity Commission as well as industry bodies who are in tune with actual needs of employers. The changes will help lower employment costs by removing unnecessary red-tape and as such help expanding businesses meet their needs for skilled workers more quickly. Strong and growing local businesses will help increase employment opportunities in Australia.”
The Australian Mines and Metals Association when commenting on the changes last year, characterised the 2013 amendments to the sc457 program as , “cynical and opportunistic, and some of the argument from supporters of labour market testing as bordering on xenophobia.”
Unions maintain that the cap is necessary to protect Australian workers at a time of high domestic unemployment rates. “What we are seeing is massive job losses in Australian manufacturing, and in mining, construction and services and at the same time the government is opening the flood gates for a larger number of temporary overseas workers,” said the CFMEU’s Dave Noonan in an interview with the ABC. Mr Noonan stated that the union is not against migration but is against the shift to temporary migration as it believes this has serious consequences for Australian workers, as it undermines job security; and for temporary migrants, as they will be inherently vulnerable to exploitation.
For details of the ABC story please follow this link:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-08/coalition-govt-presses-ahead-with-457-changes/5307790
Comments
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Monday, 10 March 2014The Minister should consider lowering the English language requirement for cook and chef. Many non-English speaking restaurants are struggling and some had closed due to shortage of experience staffs.
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Monday, 10 March 2014
I have been working in the Hospitality Industry for more than 50 years as a cook , chef, teacher of cooking , principal lecturer of hospitality for 27 of those years in TAFE WA.
For the last ten years as a RMA working mainly with employers to help them obtain their cooks and chefs.
The skills shortage for cooks is across the whole range of cuisine styles and is not specific to (Non Western / European cuisines)
In my experience the hospitality industry has the highest attrition rate for qualified trades persons (cooks) as many are burnt out by the time they have completed their apprenticeship of three years due mainly to the long hours, weekend work , night work, split shifts and giving more responsibility for the young inexperienced cooks in the kitchen brigade ( many second year apprentices are working as chef de partie)
The other problem is that as far as I am aware there are NO Registered Training Organisations (RTO's) in Australia providing trade level training in any of the Non Western Cuisines styles, Sure there are some that provide an introduction to Asian cookery and offer a period of Chinese, Japanese, Malaysian as an add on to their Certificate III in Commercial Cookery but this does not equip them to work in an Asian Restaurant kitchen as a cook worthy of the market rate salary of the minimum $53,900.00
All the labour market testing in the world is not going to result in hiring a suitable candidates as there are simply no Australian Permanent resident Cooks / Chefs looking for work in Asian Kitchens
The other problem is that in general the Australian Permanent Resident /Citizen profile is that of a European / British background and is not one that would easily assimilate into an Asian Restaurant kitchen environment due to the language and cultural barriers (just have a look when you next visit an Asian restaurant to see how many "Aussies" are working in the kitchen as cooks.
The nonsense of being exempted from having English at IELTS 5.0 can be given if the salary for the cook/chef is paid a salary of $95,000.00 per anum for a 38 hour week.
How many small to medium restaurants can afford this salary?
And even if they could, surely this makes a mockery of the "Importance " to have a vocational level of English to enable one to communicate in the workplace , understand rights and responsibilities , read and understand safety manuals and instructions and to pass on to the Australian permanent residents junior cooks (of which there are none due to the reasons above) the skills and knowledge that the Asian Chef .cook has after many years of experience.
The hospitality industry will always suffer a skills shortage and unfortunately the "Bloody Mindedness) of policy makers in government who continue to rely on a lot of misinformation or outdated information and have no real idea of the industries that they a make decisions for.
Since 2007 the Cooks seem to have been (demonized) and made a a target of the government (probably due to the stuff by up in allowing so many RTO'S issue cooks qualifications to persons who have no intention of working in the industry and due to the lack of quality assurance and control over the RTO have not properly equipped the student with the right skills for the job. We have many qualified cooks driving taxis here in Perth and I guess the Eastern States have many more.
The expectations that the cook applicant will have IELTS 5.0 on each band when coming from a country where they have only basic functionality in their own language.
(I challenge halve of Australian Year ten leavers to meet this requirement)
The type of employees that the hospitality industry attracts are generally from the lower socioeconomic groups.
Cook is not a highly sought after occupation and to their credit the cooks and chefs that I have seen professionally over the years are just very hard working skilled workers, cant string two sentences together but have a high work ethic and are loyal and have an appreciation of the privilege to work .
At home his situation is similar to this
He is probably working 60 hours per week and has no time to study anything.
He would not be able to afford to study English in his own country.
He would not be able to travel to a center to learn even if there was one locally.
If not having English is the real problem, then perhaps the government could consider a
457 provisional visa of two years looking like this:
Threshold criteria for English is Functional = Overall 4'5
Working week 38 as per current.
Salary as per current 457 Market rate.
A commitment from the employer that he will allow and indeed facilitate the visa applicant to attend for English studies IELTS for a period of up to 12 months at say three hours per week with tuition fees paid by the employer.
On satisfying the required IELTS 5.0 on each band they would then be granted the balance of the 4 year 457 Visa.
If they don't get the required IELTS result after having studied as above then unfortunately they would be require to return home.
The benefit of this system would be:
The applicant would be able to study English in Australia where he is given time to study
He would study in an English speaking environment
He would have opportunity to practice speaking with like other English speaking persons
Perhaps this is simplistic but I am sure that there would be many employers willing to commit to this proposal and get some sense of surety if their business direction
It is absolute chaos at present with much uncertainty as to where the next cook is coming from.
Maybe someone will take this on board· Liana - Allan likes this comment. -
Monday, 10 March 2014Don, I will send this submission through now. It is a very good suggestion. If (example only) it is a Korean restaurant with Korean staff why should the cook be able to speak English...h/she's going to be chatting away in Korean, surely? And if it's OH&S then the head chef and other staff can communicate that in Korean. After all, so many the dual-national Australian cooks are already doing this. They communicate in their mother-tongue all the time.
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Monday, 10 March 2014
'If (example only) it is a Korean restaurant with Korean staff why should the cook be able to speak English...h/she's going to be chatting away in Korean, surely?'
OMG there must be more to life than work unless you are just another slave -
Monday, 10 March 2014
Rubbish. 457 workers are taking locals jobs. Obviously not in every case but it is definitely happning. I have first hand experience knowledge with a friend who was terminated and replaced by a 457 worker. This is not the only case I've heard of. The scheme is already being exploited and this will only encourage it further.
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Monday, 10 March 2014
Of course!! The labor party looks after workers when in power (457 caps) and the conservatives look after the big end of town when in power (no 457 caps) DOH!!!
(But don't ya just lover the deceptive advertising in the party name 'Liberals', the conservative party in Oz uses. At least in the UK they have sufficient honesty to call a tory a tory) -
Monday, 10 March 2014
Without knowing the details, perhaps your friend was not up to scratch at work and they wanted better performance. Who knows, maybe a person on a 417 was performing so well they decided to sponsor them and replace underperforming friend. Otherwise why bother terminating your friend? Companies don't terminate staff for no reason. Your friend might be giving you the full story. Perhaps they were fired and the guy on the 457 is the scapegoat? Just sayin'......
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Monday, 10 March 2014
Dear Liana,
I realise that the 457 program is prohibitive to a particular segment of applicants.
In this regard, I am very much concerned about the restrictions placed on applicants aged 50 and over. Majority of 457 applicants of this age segment contains highly experienced professionals such as various high profiled managers, Engineers, Doctors, Scientists, IT experts, financial experts and many more. But the following conditions imposed on their applications for 457 visas are highly prohibitive:
1. They must be paid high income threshold ie $ 129,300 pa.
2. They have to work on a 457 visa for a period of 4 years before applying for their residence visa.
The question is, why they should be paid the high income threshold when it causes immense difficulty to Australian employers employing these experts to pay such massive salary. Also why they should be on a 457 visa for 4 years before they apply for residency, when they are already highly experienced professionals and others could apply after completing 2 years.
I think every one who wants to see that 457 visa system applies in a fair and non-differential way to professionals with lengthy experience and expertise must protest against this prohibitive and punitive
Please be kind enough to take initiative to appeal to the Hon Minister for immigration & Border Protection to revise migration regulations relating to the aforesaid prohibitive measures. I am willing to prepare to draft a submission to the Minister in this regard.
I think that there is no proper rationale for the payment of this salary and imposing of 4 year period. therefore these applicants must also be treated equally as the other 457 applicants. Otherwise it causes differential treatment based on age.
Thanks
Best of Regards
C&CT
M i g r a t i o n C o n s u l t a n t c y Pty Ltd
M W Champa P Buddhipala LL.M. (Syd)
Migration Agent Registration Number: 9790043
Admitted as Solicitors & Barristers of the Supreme Court of ACT (Australia) &
Admitted as Solicitors of the Supreme Court of England & Wales -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
hii all
i think they also remove 2 years with same employer condition from ENS 186 Temp Transition Scheme. because most of Trade person on 457 visa in Family businesses. and when business close they start to find other sponsor and depressed cause of 2 years condition. in my case i done 1 year 6 months with my employer and that company Liquidise. i find other job in same field with same type of business and same duties. Hon. Minister for immigration & Border Protection start some type of exemptions like if employees change job due to shut-down. also employer put pressure on 457 visa holder cause of this condition. -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
I think most people would be surprised how reliant Australian business is on the 457 program to fill skilled vacancies and the negative effects that the constant changes to the program have on business productivity.
For example, the hospitality industry would collapse overnight without the 457 program. The reality is that there is not enough skilled labour to fill all of the positions available.
Why would an employer go through all the trouble, scrutiny and expense of becoming a sponsor, nominating a position, applying for the visa as well as regular business monitoring, if they could more easily employ a local?
There are undoubtedly businesses doing the wrong thing and exploiting the program, however, this is a small minority which can be controlled with good policy. -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Who's kidding who !!!!
The 457 Visa Programme is an absolute farce !!!!
I am a professional engineer (born in Scotland) who has lived and worked in Australia for 32 years , mainly in the oil and gas and mining industries.
I live in Perth, Western Australia and I have been an Australian Citizen for 30 years (and no, I am not a 'ten pound pom', I came to Australia as an independent skilled migrant and paid my own way).
I have been unemployed for 12 months and can not even get to an interview stage due to the major resource companies bringing in cheap labour from overseas in lieu of experienced Australian Citizens and PR's.
I have several experienced colleagues who are in the same position, many of whom have been unemployed for over a year.
Apart from taking jobs from qualified and experienced local talent (who have been paying Australian taxes and contributing to the economy for many years), these 457 visa holders are allowed to bring in an unlimited number of dependents who place an enormous burden on our economy (free schooling, Medicare, etc.).
As an example, I know of a family who have 5 children who are all receiving free benefits from the state. The father is the principal applicant and the only member of the family paying taxes. He is definitely not in an occupation that would be considered as highly skilled or in high demand.
The 2012-2013 457 Programme granted over 80,000 visas which is completely unnecessary and unacceptable. Removal of the cap on sponsors will just make the situation worse.
Please note that I am also a Registered Migration Agent with a Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law and Practice. However, I only take on the odd humanitarian case on a strictly pro-bono basis.
Many of the RMA's will probably disagree with my comments as the 457 Visa Programme means big $$$$ to them. -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Sorry John,
You are very miss informed and your post spreads and adds to the misconceptions of the 457 visa program in the similar fashion to the previous governments inaccuracies.
457 visa holders are limited to the amount of dependents they can nominate. That limited is those who are "Dependent on Him/Her". Would you expect him/her to leave his family behind to fend for them self?
Free Schooling- Totally wrong.
Schooling for non-PR is quite expensive. I will not quote price as it varies from school to school but you can expect Approx. $250.00 per child at a minimum.
Free Medicare- Totally wrong.
Medical insurance is essential for the approval of 457 and the premiums are expensive.
457 Visa Holders pay a far higher tax rate than Au citizens.
80,000 Unacceptable? Based on what evidence.
I compiled the above as I was reading down your post. Then I got to the funny part where you proudly boast about being a RMA and your completion of Migration law and Practice. That’s where it all got very embarrassing for you.
You should take a look at the new look ledgendcom, there has been many legislative and policy changes since your graduation ceremony. Oh and the salary for 457 has increased since then too.
Whilst the Government are free to politicise migration as they wish. I certainly expected, at the very least, accurate information to come from an RMA whether or not you have a positive or negative personal opinion.
Your personal opinion is your own and that is a matter totally for you but the standard of information supplied from a purported RMA, simply shameful.
Being a RMA providing a little support in the humanitarian field does not give a free ticket to put disrepute on to RMA’s who have a sound knowledge of the 457 visa program.
Sorry to go on. I can respect your difference and dislike to a particular Governmental policy but I cannot understand for the life of me why you published such inaccuracy under the pretence of RMA. -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
let local unemployed do these jobs, our welfare bill is too high
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Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Agreed but keeping your eye (argument) on the main game would have given your comment more force.
On the face of it seems you have good first hand experience to contribute to the central argument that 457 visas are being misused to the disadvantage of Australian workers and that the conservatives are 'stretching' the truth if not out right disassembling in saying 457s are necessary to meet demand for labour unmeetable in the national local market.
Surely that's the point - being lied to by our elected and supposedly accountable representatives and the fact that they seem more interested in representing big business than Australian labourers. The 10 pound pom issue is old hat surely we are sophisticated enough to have got past that petty prejudice. Ditto the welfare payments - an appeal to petty meanness that distracts from the real issues. ie our government is being slowly and inexorably corporatised and in the process we are taken for gullible fools who will swallow any obvious lie. Surely that's the bigger picture and not just restricted to immigration issues. -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Interesting comments regarding the 457 visa.
Whilst there are some companies that abuse the 457 visa option the majority do not. The 457 has a salary minimum set by the government at ridiculous levels that exceed the award salaries of many of the occupations on the CSOL. This has one purpose which is to raise the salaries of the local employees by manipulating the system for wages through the visa conditions and therefore eliminating any industrial action to achieve the higher wages.
It does not make any sense that a worker in Australia has an inflated salary above the award simply because the Migration law has set a higher benchmark salary for overseas workers to work in the same job.
This means employers are paying a premium for employees and placing unnecessary penalties on the employer whilst reducing the positions available for employees. This is a side effect of the greed of the unions who drive the salaries to these levels.
Why does a cook need to be paid a minimum of $53,900 base rate (since the rate can no longer be made up of weekend penalty shifts) and Hairdressers and many other occupations do not earn this money and cannot be justified by market rates.
It would make much more sense to ensure all employees whether local or overseas 457 visa holders were paid a minimum of award rates.
The point that has been missed totally missed is that employers provide the job opportunities. If there are no businesses there are no jobs so why is everyone so hell bent on attacking the employers who offer the job opportunities and why do the complainants attack the employer for not employing them. Usually an employer will not employ someone because they do not meet the requirements for either skills or team work. Attitude is always a big factor when an applicant is not successful in their application for employment.
Given the work force vacancies cannot be filled by the unemployed for many reasons including the logistics of where the employee is and location of job and relocation needs. Many jobs are across the country and very few Australians are prepared to move to a new location to take advantage of opportunities.
The 457 Program offers the employers a supply of experienced workers to ensure the business can remain in business and protect their current employees from the chance of the business closing because it cannot produce the products or services to the needs of the market.
This is commonsense and has been largely missed in the discussions surrounding the 457 Visa issue.
Basically no employers = no jobs
No Jobs = no income
No income = disaster for Australians
Protect the employers = protect job opportunities for Australians -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
so are you saying unemployment is unavoidable ?
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Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Someone made a comment "so you think unemployment is unavoidable"
This is a fact of life. There are not sufficient needs in the community to create full employment in any country. It is a matter of balancing the needs of the community and the ability of the employers to deliver at a profit the goods and services,
There will always be people who cannot work due to illness, disability, location, family situation and more and times when demand for services and products decline so yes unemployment is unavoidable.
sadly it is not possible to ensure all people will be employed at all times -
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
I was shocked to hear a person like John was RMA while his statements were totally untrue, terribly biased and prejudiced. 457 visa is a kind of pipeline through which professional or skilled people can exchange and communicate over expertise between different countries. Open your eyes and open up your mind and look further, these narrow minded frogs in a small pond.
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Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Remove the IELTS exam that's all I can say!
Immigration blog
I welcome Liberal government's policy to lift cap on number of 457 visa issued. Labour party and labourer's unions should correct their view point on foreign workers. It is not that foreign workers take domestic workers' jobs but it is rather that domestic workers are stimulated and encouraged to improve their skills by expertise from foreign workers so that they are more competitive than before in labour market. Labour party needs to change their attitude toward domestic labourers as workers can't cling to a specific party like infants for job security while not trying to enhance their own skills. Government should not supports people who do not help themselves. I am in opinion that any government should concentrate on teaching people how to catch fish rather than just feed them.