Australia welcomes another significant step towards restarting Australia’s highly valued Pacific labour mobility programs and supporting our Pacific family, with the arrival of the first group of Tongan workers since Australia’s border restrictions came into effect in March.

This will also be the first time Pacific seasonal workers will be quarantined on farm, consistent with the Queensland Government’s approved guidelines. The 151 Tongan Seasonal Worker Programme participants will support Queensland’s horticultural producers who play an integral role in securing Australia’s food supply and boosting regional economies.

They follow on from the 323 workers who have arrived in the Northern Territory to date, from Vanuatu. The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Marise Payne, said the Morrison Government is working with States and Territories, industry and Pacific governments, to ensure Australia’s valued Pacific labour mobility initiatives — the Seasonal Worker Programme and Pacific Labour Scheme — can resume safely.

The Department received more than 100 public nominations for membership.

The Department assessed each nomination in accordance with the following assessment criteria:

• Experience and expertise in, or understanding of, the provision of immigration assistance in Australia
• Demonstrated capacity to work collaboratively with government, business or the community
• Understanding of the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Agents Regulations 1998.

The Assistant Minister has appointed the following experts to the Advisory Group, for a maximum term of 12 months:

Source: https://benchmarkinc.com.au/web/

Invitation round results for 21 October 2020 published 

The invitation Round results for 21 October 2020 invitation rounds are now published. No invitations were issued for pro-rata occupations. Occupation ceilings are also updated as per latest invitation round results. You can view the updated occupation ceilings here: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skillselect/occupation-ceilings 

 Number of Invitations issued

Wage theft and slavery-like practices continues to exist in our modern day society.  This is especially evident among specific groups such as temporary migrant workers.

According to the recent “Wage Theft in Australia” report, temporary migrant workers comprise up to 11% of the Australian labour market.  The Report States that in 2017, findings from the National Temporary Migrant Work Survey revealed that a substantial proportion of international students, backpackers and other temporary migrant workers were paid roughly half the legal minimum wage in their lowest paid job in Australia.

Migrant workers’ ability to seek remedies for underpayment is also an indicator of the efficacy of Australia’s labour law regime and institutions.