Training Benchmarks were abolished from 12 August 2018 with the introduction of the Skilling Australia Fund (SAF) levy. However, sponsoring employers may still need to meet Training Benchmark obligations. This means that: Please note that Training Benchmarks still apply to all sc457 Sponsors who have or had sc457 visa holders working for them. The Skilling Australia Fund (SAF) Levy applies to new nominations made after 12th August 2018 only on sc482, sc186 and sc187 visas. sc457 sponsor companies who wish to nominate workers on sc482 and sc186/ sc187 visas will need to provide evidence of having met their Training Benchmark obligations. Please also note that sc482 sponsors who had nominated workers after the implementation of sc482 but before the implementation of SAF on 12th August 2018 also will need to meet their Training Benchmark obligations.
Business and Skilled Migration Queensland has received additional quota for the skilled program and is re-opening the ‘Working in Queensland, ‘Masters’ and ‘PhD’ Queensland Skilled Occupation Lists (the Lists) from 18 April 2019. Once this quota has been filled the program will close again until July 2019. The Lists have recently been amended with occupations added and removed so will need to reviewed by the applicant before lodgment of an EOI. The Lists are available at: https://migration.qld.gov.au/skilled-occupation-lists/ Only EOI’s submitted from 18 April 2019 will be picked up via Skill Select. This means that if an applicant has lodged an EOI prior to this date and not received an invitation a new EOI will need to be submitted. Applicants must be onshore only and meet the onshore criteria for working in Queensland, including being employed for 6 months in the nominated occupation before submitting an EOI and have an ongoing job offer for at least a year. Queensland Masters graduates must be currently working in the nominated occupation and have continual ongoing employment for at least 12 months. PhD graduates are not required to have a job, however there is an exception for the occupation of University Lecturer. PhD applicants applying under the occupation of University Lecturer (ANZSCO code 242111), must meet working in Queensland criteria including having been employed for six months in their nominated occupation and have continual ongoing employment for at least 12 months. Invitations to suitable candidates will commence from 24 April 2019.
The Federal Government is launching a new tourism campaign aimed at backpackers from the United Kingdom, France and Germany to lure more working holiday makers and boost the Australian economy. The number of backpackers arriving in the country has stagnated. A campaign video launched on 20 April 2019 will run in the United Kingdom, France and Germany and will re-engage young foreigners on the benefits of working while holidaying in Australia. Quarterly figures from the Department of Home Affairs shows there were 145,479 working holiday makers as at December 2018, compared to 146,431 in the same period last year, December 2017. However, the numbers dropped substantially between March 2017 and September 2017 when it went from 150,059 to 136,925, during which the backpacker tax came into effect. This is one of a range of measures introduced to promote the working holiday visas. The Government last year also announced it would ease time limit restrictions on working holiday makers allowing them to spend more time in Australia. The changes allow backpackers to stay with one employer for up to a year, rather than six months as well as being allowed to renew their visas for a second year, and sometimes a third.
Please note changes to electronic application form introduced on 17th April 2019. You may need to start a new application for an incomplete application. A new electronic application form was introduced for the Working Holiday visa on 17 April 2019. Any partially completed, ‘saved’ or, ‘in progress’ Working Holiday visa application forms that were not submitted by 16 April 2019 will be set to a status of ‘discontinued’ within ImmiAccount. Applicants will need to start a new Working Holiday visa application form to continue the visa application process.
The Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) and Subclass 494 Skilled Employer Sponsored visas will be introduced from 16 November 2019. These are points tested skilled assessment migration visa which requires either employer or state government nomination, or sponsorship by an eligible family member who is settled in a designated regional area. The validity period for either visa is five years. Holders of either visa will be work in a nominated position within any designated regional area. Condition 8579 will be imposed on both visas to enforce the government’s intention that that visa holders live, work and study only in regional areas and, if employer sponsored, only in the nominated position. A new permanent visa, the Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa will be introduced in November 2022. To meet the requirements of the permanent visa, applicants must have held a subclass 491 or 494 visa for at least 3 years, have complied with the conditions on that visa and have met minimum taxable income requirements. The Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) Visa and the Subclass 489 (Skilled Regional (Provisional)) Visa (subclass 489) will close to new applicants from 16 November 2019. Transitional arrangements will be put in place for applications which have been lodged and are undecided at that time. New points test thresholds for both the subclass 489 and 491 visas are: 15 points for nomination by a State or Territory government agency or sponsorship by a family member residing in regional Australia, to live and work in regional Australia; 10 points for a skilled spouse or de facto partner; 10 points for certain Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics qualifications; 5 points for a spouse or de facto partner with ‘competent English’; and 10 points for applicants without a spouse or de facto partner.
With the introduction of the Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) Levy in August 2018, you may be a little confused about your business’s continuing obligations regarding training benchmarks. We don’t blame you. Read on to see our breakdown of whether you’ll still have to adhere to training benchmark requirements, and in what situations. For more advice tailored specifically to you, contact McKkr’s for free advice regarding Training Benchmarks. What is the SAF Levy? The Skilling Australia Fund (SAF) Levy applies to new nominations made after 12th August 2018 only on subclass 482, 186 and 187 visas. It is a levy payable on nomination by employers and is designed to contribute to the skills development of Australians by funding more training programs and apprenticeships in partnership with State and Territory governments. It was introduced alongside the abolition of the subclass 457 visa and the transition to the new subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa. Before the SAF levy, all business sponsors of temporary overseas workers were required to spend either 1 per cent of their annual payroll on training their Australian workers (Training Benchmark B) or contribute 2 per cent to an approved training fund (Training Benchmark A). Even though the SAF Levy has now come into effect, you may still be obligated to keep up with your obligations under the training benchmark system in some cases. In what situations does a company still have to meet training benchmark obligations? There are three broad scenarios in which your company may need to continue to maintain your financial obligations to meet training benchmarks. These are: If you currently employ, or employ in the future, an individual on a 457 visa. If you currently employ anyone on a 482 visa which was lodged before 12th August 2018. If you are a 457 visa “approved business sponsor”, meaning you currently sponsor someone on a 457 visa, and you want to nominate workers on who are on 482 visa or 186 visa or 187 visa lodged after 12th August 2018. If you previously employed someone on a 457 visa or a 482 visa (lodged before 12th August 2018) Remember, the training benchmarks are calculated with reference to the employment start date of the sponsored employee. Training benchmarks will have to be met for the entirety of the year following the day your company was approved as a business sponsor, accruing on the anniversary of their approval as a business sponsor, even if an employee only actually works there for a small portion of the year. For example, if you are approved as a business sponsor on 1st February 2017 and an employee on a 457 visa begins work at your company on 1st August 2017 and then quits on 15th September 2018, you will be obligated to meet training benchmark obligations for two full sponsorship years: 1st February 2017- 31st January 2018 and 1st February 2018 – 31st January 2019. How and when do I need to show I’ve met training benchmark obligations? Companies need to show they have met training benchmarks when applying for a renewal of their sponsor status, when applying to nominate a potential employee on a 457 visa, or when applying to nominate a person on a 482, 186 or 187 visa IF they are currently an approved sponsor of an employee on a 457 visa or an employee on a 482 visa who’s application was lodged before 12th August 2018 (before SAF was implemented). Do I have to change the way I provide training to my employees under Training Benchmark B? No. You can still provide training to people within your company under Training Benchmark B. You can offer this training to employees who are not Australian citizens and residents as well, provided that you are also offering the training to those who are Australians. These specifications haven’t changed. Please note that this is general advice and is not a substitute for tailored migration advice suited to your particular situation. McKkr’s is the leader in Training Benchmark B in Australia and knows what it takes to keep your clients compliant with their training benchmark obligations. We offer a free auditable structured training plan for all of our clients. Companies and agents are welcome to contact us to find out more.
Guest Blog The Government’s ‘new’ migration strategy is to send migrants to live and work in regional areas in Australia because cities such as Sydney and Melbourne are overcrowded. The minister for population explains how the issue of overpopulated cities is not so much ‘historically high immigration levels’, but rather a backlog in major infrastructure. He further says that the biggest challenge with bringing more migrants to regional areas will be finding the right incentives and conditions for migrants to move to regional areas and smaller cities. “People are finding the trains are full and the roads are congested and people are blaming it purely on the growth rate when there is actually a number of issues at play,’’ Mr Tudge said. While many quickly tend to blame migrants for congested roads and population growth, he also says the issue is “the lack of infrastructure keeping up with that growth”. Tudge also mentioned introducing a “designated area migration scheme” (see current designated areas of Australia) which would mean that new migrants arriving in Australia would have to spend a certain period of time in a regional area or smaller city. How will it work exactly? There is criticisim as to how exactly the idea of moving jobs from Sydney or Melbourne to a small town in the regional area should take place. After all, migrants are migrating to the major cities because that’s where their skills are in demand. That’s where they have been sponsored to work or that’s where there are likely to find a job and contribute to the Australian economy. One should also not forget that the Government has already introduced certain visas to attract migrants to the regional areas, such as subclass 489 or subclass 187. There are even Government sponsored regional visas in additional to state sponsored ones (see Occupation Lists for all states and regions). While those incentives exist already, the question remains whether migrants will remain there long-term as hope for by the Government. One should also never forget that migrants often have some family members here living in the bigger cities, another reason for them to move closer to their family and friends. People after all have the right to freedom of movement and will be interesting to follow if and how the Australian government will try to settle migrants permanently in regional Australia. Another important factor to keep in mind is that the majority of migrants are temporary visa holders and international students make up the largest cohort of those migrants. Often they live in major cities out of pure necessity seeing how the majority of training institutions and universities are also located in the major cities. Conclusion: While there is no deny in Melbourne and Sydney dealing with congested roads and full trains, simply channelling all new migrants to regional areas won’t be as simple a solution. Infrastructure, planning and job creation will have to be in place first. Let us know what you think with a comment below!
The Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2017 and the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Changes Bill were passed this year by the Australian Senate. The Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy impacts employers sponsoring overseas workers on both temporary and permanent visas. The Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Act 2018 (the SAF Charges Act) is related to the ‘nomination training contribution charge’ payable by persons who are responsible to pay the charge under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994. The charge is levied on employers who nominate workers for temporary or permanent skilled work visas including: · Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) (subclass 482) visa · Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (subclass 186) visa · Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (subclass 187) visa Five states have signed the Agreement: New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. These states will have the opportunity to develop projects for consideration by the Australian Government The SAF Charges Act commences on 12 August 2018. Section 7 of the SAF Charges Act enforces the charge payable under section 140ZM of the Migration Act. Section 140ZM is introduced by the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Act 2018, which also commences on 12 August 2018. The amount of the charge applicable to nominations made from 12 August 2018 have been recommended by the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Regulations 2018 as follows: Nominations that relate to temporary visas incur a charge of AUD 1200 per year of the proposed visa period. For businesses with an annual turnover of at least AUD 10 million, a charge of AUD 1,800 per year of the proposed visa period. This charge is applicable to nominations for the new Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) visa, (Subclass 482) which commenced on 18 March 2018, and nominations of holders of the Subclass 457 {Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (Subclass 457)}, which was repealed on 18 March 2018 Nominations that relate to permanent visas incur a once only charge of AUD 3,000. For businesses with an annual turnover of at least AUD 10 million, a once only charge of AUD 5,000 is implied. This charge applies to nominations for the Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme) visa (Subclass 186) and the Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa (Subclass 187); and An exception to both categories would be that the charge would be nil if: 1. the nomination relates to a Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme)visa in the Labour Agreement stream; and 2. the application for approval of the nomination identifies the occupation of minister of religion or religious assistant The charge replaces requirements in the Migration Regulations requiring sponsors under the temporary sponsored work visa program, or employers nominating a worker for the Direct Entry stream of the Subclass 186 visa, to have recently spent: the equivalent of at least two per cent of their business’ payroll in contributions to an industry training fund (training benchmark A); or the equivalent of at least one per cent of their business’ payroll on the training of Australians (training benchmark B).
Australian Minister for Home Affairs, Peter Dutton has confirmed that the country will not be signing the United Nations global compact on migrants and refugees. Even though Australia played a key role in the drafting of the negotiation agreement, Dutton has refused to sign it in its “current form” because it compromises nation’s sovereignty. “We’re not going to sign a deal that sacrifices anything in terms of our border protection policies. We’ve fought hard for them,” said Dutton. Refugees who arrive by boat to the continent are detained in offshore processing centres on Nauru in the Pacific and Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, as stated by Australia’s current law and policies on border protection. “Our government has detained 120 children in an island prison for five years. Twelve people have died. Children as young as 10 are trying to kill themselves,” said an extremely disappointed Daniel Webb, the Director of legal advocacy at the Human Rights Law Centre. According to Amnesty International’s Head of Refugee and Migrant Rights, Charmain Mohamed, the global compact on migration and refugees reflects the great effort to create an extensive transformation in the way refugees are being treated by various governments. Human Rights Advocates from all over the world fear that Australia will be the third UN member to reject the global impact, following United States that rejected it last year and Hungary that withdrew from the deal last week. The final draft of the compact states that, “Countries need to review and revise relevant legislation, policies and practices related to immigration detention to ensure that migrants are not detained arbitrarily, that decisions to detain are based on law, are proportionate, have a legitimate purpose, and are taken on an individual basis, in full compliance with due process and procedural safeguards.”
As if the pathway to Permanent Residency in Australia wasn’t already an uphill road, the Australian government is considering adding a “values test” for those considering permanent residency in order to protect its “extraordinarily successful” multicultural society as stated by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The idea of a values test was first floated by the citizenship and multicultural minister Alan Tudge at the Australia/UK Leadership Forum where he suggested the idea of the test to discourage “segregation”. According to Alan Tudge “our ship is slightly veering towards a European separatist multicultural model and we want to pull it back to be firmly on the Australian integrated path”. “Some of the challenges to social cohesion that we are facing today are similar to ones that the UK is facing – such as ethnic segregation and liberal values being challenged.” Agreeing with Alan Tudge, Malcolm Turnbull said, “That is certainly one of the issues that we are considering but I have to say to you that we are the most successful multicultural society in the world.” “One of the reasons we are is because we put an enormous amount of effort, in Australia, into integration, into ensuring that our form of multiculturalism is one where we can all benefit from the diversity of cultural and religious and ethnic backgrounds that Australians have. “This is a country where 28% of Australians were born outside of Australia, over half have a parent born outside of Australia – but isn’t it remarkable that we live together in so much harmony because of the values we share and those Australian values, of democracy, freedom, the rule of law, respect for women, equality between men and women. “All of these values are vitally important, and we must never, ever take them for granted and we should always ensure that we maintain them because that is what creates this extraordinary successful multicultural society that we have.” The ironical thing though is that when it comes to an “Australian values test”, even Australians don’t know what the government is talking about. What exactly are Australian “values”? Is it sipping beer and watching footy or wanting to spend Sunday afternoons having a barbecue with the family? Is it always sitting on the front seat of a taxi, a common hatred for Americanism or the love for weird abbreviations (Macca’s anyone?) Also, how would a person be tested on said “values”. Would they have an MCQ test or a speaking test or would they have to write an essay just to prove how Australian they really are, despite having shows records of a good character, tax payments, secure employment, English proficiency, financial proof, they still fall behind and should definitely be tested on weather Woolworths is called Woolies or Wools and how amazing is a Sausage sizzle, else we are all doomed. Or as Alan Tudge says “If we want Australia to continue its multicultural success, we must take active steps now to ensure that social cohesion remains strong.” The government has already proposed an English-language skills test, for potential permanent migrants, which last month Turnbull said would aid with integration. The government’s attempts last year to make achieving citizenship harder, including requiring all applicants to have lived in Australia for four years on permanent residency visas, as well as an advanced English-language test, were rejected by the Senate.