It’s time to ease-up on employers and let them focus on business rather than lose days/weeks on DIBP investigations. DIBP had stepped up the investigation of employers over the last few years after the Labor party under union pressure tightened the sc457 program on the claims that there were some 10,000 cases of misuse of the sc457 visa program. That claim has however now been been debunked after 16 months of investigation.

Of the 1267 employer sponsors of sc457 workers investigated for alleged rorts, only 25 were found to be in serious breach of their obligations, according to a report in The Australian. The vast majority of employers investigated were found to be compliant in their obligations which included paying the appropriate salary rates and having the foreign workers work in the nominated occupations.

The Australian reports that rorts in the 457 skilled visa program are a fraction of those claimed by the former Labor government, thus undercutting union campaigns against the ­demand-driven system.

After 16 months of investigations, by the department of immigration, the sc457 is looking like its working as intended confirming the findings of the sc457 review.

Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Michaelia Cash told The Australian: “The politically motivated allegations of widespread rorting within the 457 program are exaggerated claims and made by those who want to see the program ended. “

DIBPs monitoring of employers increased by some 20%, according to its annual report due to the claims of Labour and the unions. However, despite the recent findings, indications are that the Coalition will maintain investigations at the same levels: “What we will do is ensure that we continue to focus on strengthening compliance and integrity measures within the skilled migration program with the same energy and commitment that we have demonstrated in stopping illegal boat arrivals,’’ Senator Cash said.

LODGING COMPLETE APPLICATIONS – THE HEALTH REQUIREMENT

The Department encourages the lodgement of complete applications as this assists with quicker processing. One element of a complete 457 visa application is to have finalised any necessary health assessment prior to lodging the application. Information on whether a health assessment is required is available at ( http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/health-requirements/health-exam.htm

Please ensure that you carefully consider the work and study intentions in Australia of all family members included in your application when determining whether health assessments are required. Should the requirement for additional health assessments be identified in processing, finalisation of your application will be delayed.   Please note that dependents under 18 years are expected to attend school.  

Labour market testing for sc457 visas remains a thorn in the side of employers. It is generally required for the employment of foreign workers in trade, technical, engineering and nursing jobs as well as occupations where Australian workers were recently retrenched. Although the sc457 review recommended that LMT is abolished, the Coalition maintained the view that such a move was unlikely to pass the senate.

This government has however been chipping away at the LMT by providing exemptions to it for signatories to its free-trade agreements. It's become a bargaining chip of sorts.

The Republic of Korea (or South Korea) has now become the latest country to be added to the list of nationals who can work in Australia without the need to have their jobs screened by the labour market testing rules of the sc457 visa program.

The effect of the new legislative instrument IMMI 14/107 is that labour market testing will not be applied to Korean nationals/permanent residents or to employees of businesses in Korea transferring to an Australian branch of that business being nominated under the 457 programme.

"we still maintain a high immigration intake but governments spend very little time or energy nowadays talking to us about that program, why it's there, what it entails ... the politics that emerge out of that is that people are really kept in the dark" said Gwenda Tavan, Latrobe University lecturer in politics and author of The Long, Slow Death of White Australia in a recent interview with The Age.

This December marks 70 years since Australia appointed its first immigration minister, Arthur Calwell, who was tasked to ‘sell’ immigration to Australians. The Age says that on his appointment as the immigration minister in 1944, Arthur Calwell made "the speech that changed Australia" when he told parliament:

"If Australians have learned one lesson from the Pacific War it is surely that we cannot continue to hold our island continent for ourselves and our descendants unless we greatly increase our numbers. We are about 7 million people and we hold 3 million square miles [7.7 million square kilometres] of this Earth surface ... much development and settlement have yet to be undertaken. Our need to undertake it is urgent and imperative if we are to survive"

Dr Tavan notes that, "It was only when Calwell got involved in very late 1944 that he realised if we're going to do this, it's going to be big, and we're going to really have to engage the Australian people. Selling a message to the Australian people would be fundamental. …We view [the selling] of it cynically but it did help that process of helping the people understand why this program was necessary.”

"India will be the answer to your search for new economic opportunities … your source for world class skills at home or for a manufacturing location abroad”, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Australian parliament recently adding that there are 800 million Indians under the age of 35, “eager for change, willing to work for it because, now they believe that it is possible" and they want Australia’s help on many fronts.

The flow of Indian citizens into Australia is at a six-year high. DIBPs 2012-13 immigration data shows that of the 190,000 who arrived under the permanent immigration program over 40, 051 were Indian citizens, while China had 27,334 and the United Kingdom 21,711. The Philippines is fourth with 10,639 people gaining permanent residency.  

The report also notes that India has replaced the United Kingdom as the top origin country applying for 457 visas. According to The Age, the latest 457 visa figures indicated that, Indian citizens comprise almost a quarter of the skilled visas, at 23.3 per cent. This was followed by the United Kingdom at 18.3 per cent; the People's Republic of China at 6.5 per cent and the Republic of Ireland, 7.2 per cent. The number of American citizens applying for the skilled visa was at 6.2 per cent.

PM Modi no doubt has observed these close links between Australia and India and has promised even closer ties indicating there are huge opportunities for Australia to provide education, health care and clean energy to India in coming years. In response, the Australian Prime Minister Mr Abbott has flagged the prospect of a free-trade pact with India by the end of next year.