457 visa processing times to fall, but on-hire firms struggle

 Businesses with a strong track record of hiring overseas workers could enjoy dramatically shorter processing times under recommendations of a new report backed by the Federal Government.

A fast-track process for temporary skilled migration visa applications for approved businesses is just one of the reform suggestions contained in the report of an external reference group on section 457 visas delivered to Federal Immigration Minister Chris Evans yesterday.

Employers have long complained about the red tape surrounding s457s, and the long time frames involved in obtaining the visas, with some having to wait up to six months to bring in desperately needed workers.

The problem was highlighted yesterday when officials acknowledged that 5795 s457 visas have not been processed within the Government’s own processing timeframe, prompting Evans to order bureaucrats to work overtime to cut the backlog.

The reference group report suggests changes intended to speed up the s457 process times into the future, with 16 recommendations including:

• Centres of excellence in processing temporary skilled migration visas to be located in Sydney, Perth and Melbourne.
• Specialised teams dedicated to processing applications in particular sectors.
• A fast-track system under which accredited employers with solid track records will have access to a streamlined process.
• Additional resources to be devoted to s457 processing.

Evans yesterday welcomed the report and said he was committed to implementing 14 of the 16 recommendations contained in the report, with action already underway in relation to several of them.

“The recommendations made… are designed to respond to the immediate labour market pressures facing Australian industry while complementing broader labour market skills strategies and maintaining the integrity of the temporary skilled migration program,” Evans says.

But while business could benefit from many of the measures contained in the report, it has failed to address onerous training obligations that are hurting many recruitment businesses, a key industry group says.

Recruitment businesses that bring workers into Australia via on-hire arrangements are required to satisfy onerous training requirements under regulations introduced by the Howard government last year.

This has seen a dramatic drop in the number of s457 applications lodged by recruitment firms, with some already shutting down or restructuring international recruiting divisions, according to Recruitment and Consulting Services Association policy adviser Charles Cameron.

The report does not recommend any direct action and, according to Cameron, the Government has indicated it is reluctant to act to address the problem.

“We’re disappointed with the result,” Cameron says. “Clearly a majority of on-hire businesses just can’t fulfil the training requirements as they are currently structured and the result is they will not bring in s457 workers.”