AUSTRALIA UNIONS WANT URGENT STRICTER TEMPORARY VISA LAWS AS YOUNG AUSTRALIAN MISSING OUT ON LOCAL JOBS IN THE COUNTRY Created Wed 28/08/2013, Last Updated Wed 28/08/2013 Urgent need for stricter temporary visa laws - Monash report confirms young Australian workers missing out on local jobs The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) today welcomed the release of a new Monash report as an important contribution to the debate on temporary visa policies and jobs for young Australians. The report titled “Scarce Jobs: Migrants or Locals at the end of the Queue?” is from the Monash Centre for Population and Urban Research and was authored by Bob Birrell and Ernest Healey. “The Monash report vindicates the Government’s 457 legislation passed in June 2013 giving Australian workers more protections in the 457 visa program,” said Dave Noonan, National Assistant Secretary of the CFMEU. The 457 legislation imposes a legal obligation on certain employers to advertise jobs and show no suitably qualified and experienced Australian workers are available, before 457 visas can be approved. The Government said this Labour Market Testing obligation would come into effect in November 2013. “This new employer obligation to genuinely search for Australian workers is vital to protect jobs for young Australian workers, because nearly one-half (47%) of all 457 visas are now going to foreign nationals under age 30 - 33,400 out of 70,630 in the year to September 2012, as unpublished DIAC data shows’, Mr Noonan said. “Mr Abbott has a clear duty to explain why he opposes a robust Labour Market Testing system in the 457 program to protect jobs for young Australians, and whether he plans to water down this vital protection if the Coalition is elected.” The Monash report also shows that tighter regulation of other temporary visas was urgently needed to adeqautely protect jobs and training opportunities for young Australians, especially the Working Holiday Maker Visa (WHMs) program that is running out of control. The Monash report shows that while job opportunities for young Australians are shrinking and official forecasts indicate they will contract even more in the next few years, a staggering 258,250 WHM visas were granted to young foreign nationals aged 18-30 in 2012-13; the number is growing by 16% per year, and total WHM numbers will continue to soar because they are uncapped under current visa laws. “The CFMEU’s long-held position is that total WHM program numbers should be capped and an annual WHV figure determined based on the labour market conditions for young Australians. With the Australian youth job market deteriorating, this reform is now urgent”, said Mr Noonan. “Immigration data shows that 10,200 young WHMs were granted 457 visas in just 12 months (14.4% of all 457 visa grants), underlining why it is so important to implement the employer legal obligation to genuinely search for young Australians first.” “All major parties should commit to capping the WHM visa program, and to an independent review of the entire scheme under the Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration.”
Posted on: Wed, 04 Sep 2013 01:58:14 +0000
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