March, a Month of Momentum and Media Buzz for Immigration

It’s been a mammoth month for Australian Immigration Law, with several law changes taking place to various visa programs, and with Immigration buzzing in the media.

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Trades Shortages in the Media

There has been increased media coverage of the trade’s shortages in Australia.

If you’re a tradie, Australia needs you! ?

The Master Builders Association reports that Australia needs to find 90,000 tradies in the next 3 months, with other news outlets reporting similarly.

The Master Builders Association has released its Recommendations which identify skilled migrants as a real solution to this crisis. ?Other Industry specialists, such as Build Skills Australia, also comment that overseas skilled tradies are required to meet this demand.

If you are in the Building and Construction Industry, contact us now to learn how you can leverage international workers to meet your skills demand.

Jobs + Skills Australia – Momentum towards the launch of the new work visa

Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) has released the draft Core Skills Occupations List (CSOL) for discussion. The draft CSOL categorizes occupations into three groups: Confident On List, Targeted for Consultation, and the Confident Off List.

The CSOL is critical to the work visa program.?

The new Skills In Demand visa (SID) will replace the existing Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa by end 2024 and will utilise the CSOL.

Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the CSOL by May 10, 2024, through an online survey or separate submission.?

All employers and businesses are highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs are factored into the CSOL, particularly the following industries:

-????????? Childcare industry: while ECT are included on the “Confident On ?list”, Centre Manager in contrast, is on the “Confident Off List”. Child care workers and room leaders are not featured at all, which suggests they will sit on the Essential Skills pathway of the new SID visa (see below under heading “New Skills in Demand Visa (SID)”), rather than be excluded from the work visa program altogether.

-????????? Human Resources: while “Recruitment Consultant” has (finally) been recognised in demand, and features on the “Confident On” list, “Human Resources Manager” is sitting on the “Targeted for Consultation” list.

-????????? Sales and Marketing: mostly sit on the “Targeted for Consultation List”, with CSM on the “Confident Off List”. ?Sales, marketing, BDM are highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met.

-????????? Finance Sector: investment managers, some brokers, dealers, traders, economists are on the “Confident Off list”. Accountants, auditors, some brokers are sitting on the “Targets for Consultation” list. ??The Finance sector is highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met.

-????????? ICT/Technology: while some ICT occupations are comfortably sitting on the “On List” such as Developers and Programmers, sitting on the Off list include ICT support engineers, technicians and officers. Sitting on the “Targeted for Consultation List” includes ICT sales, web/multimedia designer (looking at you UX) web developer, ICT analyst, software engineers, cyber security (??), devOps, testers. ?The ?ICT sector is highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met.

-????????? Pharmacy: Retail pharmacy is on the “Confident list” but Hospital and Industrial Pharmacy, together with pharmaceutical technicians are flagged for consultation. ?The Pharmaceutical industry is highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met.

-????????? Motor Industry: Panel beater, Vehicle painter/trimmers are for consultation, along with motor mechanic, small engine mechanic and motorcycle mechanic.? The motor industry is highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met

-????????? Life Sciences: Occupations such as Lab Manger, life scientist, natural/physical scientist are on the “for consultation” list.

-????????? Trades: Electricians, plumbers, renderers, glaziers, painters, joiners are all on the “for consultation list”. Hard to believe given the kerfuffle above.

-????????? Building & Construction: building association, draftsperson, building/engineering technicians are on the “for consultation list”. Given the demand and pain documented above, the Building and Construction Industry is highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met.

-????????? Hospitality: cooks, chefs, baker, smallgoods, pastry chef are on the “for consultation” list. The Hospitality industry is highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met.

-????????? Telecommunications: ?are on the “for consultation” list. The Telecommunications industry is highly encouraged to engage in stakeholder consultation to ensure their needs will be met.

If you are in any of the above industries and require support to put forward a submission to JSA to have your views heard, please reach out.

New Skills in Demand Visa (SID)

As per the Government’s Migration Strategy the “Skills in Demand' visa is set to replace the existing Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) work visa by the end of 2024.? With the JSA finding momentum, employers and business should now be accustomed to the design of the Skills in Demand visa. A refresher summary is below:

The Skills and Demand Visa will feature three distinct pathways tailored to address specific workforce needs:

1. Specialist Skills Pathway: For professionals in various fields (excluding trades, machinery operation, and labor). This pathway sets a minimum salary threshold of $135,000pa.

2. Core Skills Pathway: Occupations listed on the 'Core Skills Occupation List' (CSOL) will qualify for this pathway, focusing on roles identified by Jobs and Skills Australia as experiencing shortages or essential for international trade agreements. Applicants must meet the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT), currently at $70,000pa and set to increase in July 2024.

3. Essential Skills Pathway: This pathway targets lower-paid workers with crucial skills, subject to stringent regulations developed in collaboration with state and territory governments and unions.

Current SC 482 TSS settings are still in place and employers can still use the TSS program.?

Student Visas

New Laws were introduced to the Student visa program.

-????????? Genuine Student test replaces the Genuine Temporary Entry requirement. Same same but different, for applications lodged on or after 23 March 2024.

-????????? Ministerial Direction 106 ?is in effect for all Student visas lodged on or after 23 March 2024.? Applications lodged before this date will be assessed under the previous Direction.

-????????? English language criteria for student visas and student graduate visas, have been lifted.? Students will need to have just a slightly higher level of English to obtain a student visa or a student graduate visa.

-????????? Condition 8503 will be more widely used on Visitor visas to push student visa applicants to lodge offshore.? This is a strategic move to reduce the number of onshore lodgements and access to review rights of refusal decisions.

-????????? Dodgy education providers will be stopped.

Pacific Engagement Visa

-???????? New Pacific Engagement (Subclass 192) from 29 March 2024. It will offer permanent residence for up to 3000 nationals annually from participating Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste, through a visa pre-application ballot process.?

-???????? Amendments to PALM visa ?Subclass 403 (Temporary Work (International Relations)) visa now permit workers to apply for their family to accompany them to Australia.

Background: The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme allows eligible Australian businesses to hire workers from 9 Pacific island countries and Timor-Leste when there are not enough local workers available.?PALM scheme?employers can hire workers to fill unskilled, low-skilled or semi-skilled positions for short-term placements of up to 9 months or long-term placements of between one and 4 years. Short-term and long-term workers can be employed in any sector and in all regional and rural postcodes, except for agriculture and agriculture-related food product manufacturing, where there are no postcode restrictions.

Businesses that meet the eligibility criteria can?apply?to become an approved employer and hire from either or both cohorts of workers under the PALM scheme

Human Rights and Immigration in the Media

The Australian government looked to rush through extraordinary new powers to make it easier to deport non-citizens. The legislation was ultimately defeated in the Senate. ?The rush has been criticised by the opposition Government ?(not surprisingly) and also human rights commentators such as the Kaldor Human Rights Centre and Human Rights Law Centre.

?The rush is to prevent another situation like the NZYQ case. In that case, the Government had to deal with the fallout of a High Court decision. This decision led to the release of detainees with criminal records into the Australian community. The next High Court case is to be heard next month, where the High Court will hear the case of an Iranian man [known as ASF17] who is refusing to cooperate in his deportation, arguing he'd be persecuted.? ??The Government's fear is palatable, as any further fallout will attract more political pain.

Our news

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https://mbls.com.au/contact/

We're Immigration Lawyers based in Sydney CBD, assisting corporate clients and individual clients with their Australian visa needs,

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Industry/Topics Covered in this Article:

Human Rights

Trades

Building/ Construction

Engineering

ICT / Technology

Childcare

Marketing + Sales

Science

Hospitality

Finance

Motor Vehicle

Telecommunications

Student Visa

Work visas – TSS

New Skills in Demand Visa

PALM work visa scheme

Migration Strategy

Human Rights

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Works Cited

(21 Mar 2024). Albanese Government continues to deliver on Migration Strategy: Media Release. https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/ClareONeil/Pages/albanese-government-continues-deliver-migration-strategy.aspx: Commonwealth of Australia, The Hon Claire O'Neil MP, Minister for Home Affairs.

Association, M. B. (27 Mar 2024). https://www.mbansw.asn.au/media/industry-news/finding-australias-missing-tradies. Master Builders Association.

Australia, J. &. (March 2024). https://www.jobsandskills.gov.au/topics/migration-strategy/draft-core-skills-occupations-list-csol-consultation. Australia: Australian Government, Jobs & Skills Australia.

(26 Mar 2024). Explainer: Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024. https://www.hrlc.org.au/reports-news-commentary/2024/03/26/indefinite-detention: Human Rights Law Centre.

(2024). Family Accompaniment for pilot - for workers. https://www.palmscheme.gov.au/workers/family-accompaniment-pilot: Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Bid.

(Mar 2024). Genuine Student Test. Australian Government, Department of Home Affairs.

(21 Mar 2024). 'Ghost colleges' targeted in crackdown on dodgy providers bringing in overseas students. SBS News.

(26 Mar 2024). Kaldor Centre statement on new migration bill. https://www.unsw.edu.au/news/2024/03/Kaldor-Centre-statement-deportation-bill: Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.

(2023). Migration Strategy. Commonwealth of Australia .

(23 Mar 2024). Ministerial Direction No. 106. Commonwealth of Australia.

(2023). NZYQ v Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs [2023] HCA 37. https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases/case_s28-2023: High Court of Australia.

(n.d.). People Connections in the Pacific. https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/pacific/people-connections/people-connections-in-the-pacific/pacific-engagement-visa#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Pacific%20Engagement%20Visa%3F%20The%20Pacific,Pacific%20and%20Timor-Leste%20nationals%20through%20a%20ballot%20proc: Commonwealth of Australia. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Roberts, G. (27 Mar 2024). Government fails to rush extraordinary immigration powers through parliament. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-27/coalition-wont-support-immigration-legislation/103638462: ABC News.

Sara Tomevska, A. O. (25 March 2024). A possible solution for Australia's tradie shortage? 90,000 migrants. SBS News.

Thomson, A. (24 Mar 2024). Our missing tradies: 90,000 needed now to meet nation’s housing goal. The Sydney Morning Herald.

(19 Mar 2024). VIDEO: Further High Court decision could have consequences for government immigration detention regime. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-19/further-high-court-decision-consequences-immigration-detention-/103607490: ABC News.

Worthington, B. (27 Mar 2024). Labor left with whiplash after break-neck pace to rush immigration laws crashes into an unlikely alliance. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-27/oneil-giles-immigration-powers-labor-sense-of-panic/103639786: ABC News.

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