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Newly-proposed changes immigration legislation will make the penalties for employers who hire illegal workers more severe.

The draft legislation, which was announced on August 3, will focus on stamping out third-party involvement in the employment of illegal migrants - these sham contracting arrangements are a deliberate circumvention of the law, and, according to immigration minister Chris Bowen, must be stopped.

Unlike the existing sanctions against employers who hire illegal workers, the consequences proposed in the Migration Amendment (Reform of Employer Sanctions) Bill 2012 will be issued on a tiered system that is likely to include a mix of fines and civil penalties.

"This legislation will provide a more effective system of penalties to stop employers wilfully doing the wrong thing, with graduated tiers of sanctions - infringement notices, civil penalties, fines ...

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