Acting on complaints from overseas investors and industry bodies about the difficulties and costs of doing business in Australia, DFAT has made submissions to the Coalition government to keep politics out of the sc457 programme and called for the introduction of a new “less politicised” visa for foreign workers.

Foreign companies and governments in the region have raised concerns with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) about the high cost of labour and the language requirements attached to the 457 visa program for temporary overseas workers, reports The Australian.

DFAT has taken these complaints to parliament in submissions calling for a less onerous programme in order to encourage overseas investments. The complaints raised include the following:

• Chinese investors have complained that the English-language requirements on the sc457 visas are discouraging investments. They also cite Australia’s foreign investment screening processes, long-time frames for environmental and other approvals, and infrastructure bottlenecks as a barrier to extra investment.
• Japanese businesses have told DFAT officials they want deregulation of environmental, labour and immigration restrictions.
• Indian investors have cited the cost of labour and access to visas for temporary workers, costs on resources projects and the “onerous” nature of regulatory approvals process.

The Australian also reports that Australia China Business Council national president Duncan Calder said the usual English-language test used was designed by universities and not appropriate for tradespeople and managers.

Mr Calder said requirements for higher test scores had excluded “vital” labour, and was “unreasonably” increasing costs for overseas investors on major projects. Recent changes to the English requirements had been “problematic” and the labour market testing introduced last June - which require companies to show they have tried for four months to recruit Australians - were even more concerning.

He said perhaps a sensible outcome would be to replace the 457 with a new visa “that is less politicised and more relevant to industry demands for skilled and specialised labour”.