Australian Immigration Daily News

The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Employer Compliance) Act 2024, enacted today, February 22, 2024, modifies the Migration Act 1958 to bolster mechanisms for ensuring employer adherence. This legislation introduces several key features:

• New Employer Sanctions: Implements actions against employers who coerce or improperly influence both lawful and unlawful non-citizens into accepting employment arrangements that violate visa conditions or negatively impact their immigration status, with penalties including jail time and fines.

• Prohibited Employers: Sets up a system to designate individuals or organizations as prohibited employers for failing to adhere to migration laws, especially regarding migrant worker sanctions. Criteria for these designations include previous violations and the extent of non-compliance, with prohibited employers facing restrictions on hiring certain non-citizens and substantial penalties for breaches.

• Penalty Adjustments: Standardises and enhances penalties for work-related infringements within the Migration Act, including introducing imprisonment and/or increased fines for some offenses.

• Enforceable Undertakings for Work-related Violations: Establishes a procedure for enforceable undertakings to allow for resolved compliance disputes outside of court.

• Compliance Notices for Work-related Violations: Explains how authorised officers can issue compliance notices to employers not fulfilling their duties, outlining necessary corrective actions and setting penalties for failure to comply.

• Additional Amendments: Makes various changes to refine the functionality of the Migration Act, including adjustments to delegation authority and the elimination of specific sections.

This legislation underlines the Australian government's dedication to safeguarding non-citizens from employer exploitation and ensuring that non-compliant employers face stern repercussions. It seeks to enhance the migration system's integrity through aligned penalties, enforceable action mechanisms, and detailed compliance notice requirements.

Source: Migration-Act-Strengthening-Employer-Compliance-Act-2024.pdf