Immigration Alert – Skills in Demand Updates
A quick recap...
In our last immigration update, we highlighted the 1 July changes made to the employer sponsored visa categories, namely the Subclass 482, 186 and 494 visas.
These were:
- DOHA annual fee increases – CPI increase of 2.75% and rounded to the nearest $5
- Increase to the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) – now $73,150 per annum base/guaranteed earnings
- Changes to the 482 and 494 visa conditions – providing sponsored visa holders more time and flexibility when changing employers
JSA and CSOL Consultation
We also advised that the Government is developing the new Skills in Demand (SID) visa, which will replace the Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa later this year.
Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) has been tasked with providing guidance and advice to the Department on skills shortages and which occupations should be considered for inclusion on the new Core Skills Occupation List (CSOL) which will apply to Tier 2, or core skills applications, lodged under the SID. JSA engaged in stakeholder consultation earlier this year with submissions closing in May 2024. In addition to seeking submissions JSA engaged in bi-lateral meetings, focus groups and in-depth interviews including with Australian and migrant workers and job seekers. Mapien has provided a submission to the JSA on the draft CSOL, incorporating feedback from our clients, and the JSA has now provided its advice to the Department on the CSOL. There are over 700 occupations being considered for potential inclusion on the new list, and these have been grouped into three categories – Confident On List, Confident Off List and those targeted for further consultation.
While the JSA has released its Migration Labour Market Indicator Model Methodology, largely based on data analysis and allocation of ‘points’, it is still to release further details on how the stakeholder feedback it has received will be incorporated into the advice provided to the Department regarding the CSOL.
At this point, we are expecting the final CSOL, with relevant legislative instruments, to be released later this year.
A reminder of changes still to come
As we near the final quarter of this calendar year, it’s a good time to reconfirm the changes still to be implemented.
These include:
- 23 November will bring a reduction to the minimum work experience requirement under the Subclass 482 visa. This will reduce from the current minimum two years to a minimum of 12 months. We have recently seen an amendment to the work experience policy also, where the current two years of employment no longer needs to have been completed in the most recent five. This change has aligned the Policy requirement with the Regulations.
- Labour Market Testing (LMT) – the validity period of advertising will be extended later this year to six months, as opposed to the current four.
- Introduction of the Skills in Demand visa – currently still proposed for the end of 2024.
What should you think about before the end of the year?
A proposed future amendment to further support workers will be allowing for time spent working for any sponsor while holding a 482 visa, to count towards the required two-year qualifying employment period for a subclass 186 permanent residence visa under the Temporary Residence Transition Stream.
Following exploitation incidents, the reforms have introduced new regulations to amend the rules on visa cancellation for breaches of visa conditions, particularly after the Assurance Protocol failed. The Assurance Protocol was introduced in early 2017, and provides that an individual’s visa will not be cancelled in cases where workplace exploitation has been the cause of a breach of work-related conditions, provided:
- the visa holder has sought advice from the Department and is helping the Department with subsequent inquiries
- there are no other reasons for the Department to cancel the person’s visa (ie character or health issues)
- the visa holder has committed to complying with all conditions into the future.
The new Workplace Justice visa pilot has been established to provide greater certainty to migrant workers who wish to remain in Australia while pursuing claims against employers for a range of issues including underpayment of wages, unsafe working conditions, discrimination and/or harassment in the workplace.
We have included links to the three current draft lists below:
Connect with us
If you think your visa holders are going to be impacted by this change, please get in touch and we can assist with preparing a strategy for those impacted.
We will also continue to provide updates as further details are announced.