Australian Temporary Work 457 Visa

The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has just announced that the Temporary Work (Skilled)(subclass 457) visa program will be abolished. The Federal Government has already taken steps to abolish the 457 visa program in the fast-food industry in Australia.

The Federal Government will replace the subclass 457 visa with a separate short-term work visa program outlined below.

The Prime Minister stated that the new system would be “manifestly, rigorously, resolutely conducted in the national interest.”

Replacement Work Visas

The Federal Government announced that the subclass 457 visa is intended to be replaced by the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa intended to come into effect in March 2018 which will contain two separate streams, being:

1. a two-year work visa (the “Short-Term” stream); and
2. a more specialised four-year work visa “targeted at higher skills” (the “Medium-Term” stream).

It was announced that the two-year work visa will not have a pathway to permanent residency as is the case for the subclass 457 visa.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has also published the primary elements of the TSS visas which include:

• new, more targeted occupation lists which better align with skill needs in the Australian labour market;
• a requirement for visa applicants to have at least two years’ work experience in their skilled occupation;
• a minimum market salary rate which ensures that overseas workers cannot be engaged to undercut Australian workers;
• mandatory labour market testing, unless an international obligation applies;
• capacity for only one onshore visa renewal under the Short-Term stream;
• capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years under the Medium-Term stream;
• the permanent residence eligibility period will be extended from two to three years;
• a non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure employers are not actively discriminating against Australian workers;
• strengthened requirement for employers to contribute to training Australian workers;
• the Department of Immigration and Border Protection will collect Tax File Numbers and data will be matched with the Australian Tax Office’s records; and
• mandatory penal clearance certificates to be provided.

A Reduction in Occupations for Work Visas

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced that the current Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List which contains over 650 skilled occupations will be heavily reduced. This follows the Federal Government’s announcement last year that it would review the subclass 457 visa and the list of jobs skilled migrants could apply for under the visa.

The DIBP intends to condense occupation lists used for skilled migration visas, including the subclass 457 visa, from 19 April 2017.

Grandfathering Provisions

The Government has stated that current subclass 457 visa holders will not be affected by the changes and their visa will remain valid until its expiration.

We will keep our clients and contacts informed of the upcoming significant changes to the Australian work visa program and the subclass 457 visa.

For more information on Australian work visas, please feel free to contact the author by email at rebecca@hartmanlawyers.com.au or by telephone on +61 3 9021 0986 or +61 (0)423 701 747.