24 September 2024
From 1 July 2024, the Australian government has been implementing significant changes to migration policies as a part of the 10-year road map for migration reforms. These changes impact temporary visa holders, skilled migrants and business sponsors, and revolve around addressing issues in labour shortages in critical sectors as well as population management.
KEY CHANGES:
Migrant Income Threshold Increase
From 1 July 2024 the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) increased from $70,000 to $73,150 ensuring migrants are fairly compensated. The increase also sets a standard for the threshold to align with wage growth and living costs.
Changes to Visa Conditions
Temporary Work (Skilled) (Sc 457), Temporary Skill Shortage (Sc 482) and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (provisional) (Sc 494) visa holders who stop working with their sponsoring employer are granted more time to find a new sponsor, apply for a different visa or arrange to depart Australia.
These visa holders will have up to:
- 180 days at a time, or
- A maximum of 365 days in total across the entire visa grant period
This change sees an extension from 60 to 180 days at a time and now permits visa holders to work for other employers during this time. This work is permitted to be in occupations not listed in their most recently approved sponsorship nomination, ultimately providing migrants with greater flexibility and the ability to support themselves while looking for another sponsor.
The changes apply to existing visa holders, as well as those granted a visa on or after 1 July 2024. Any periods a visa holder stopped working for their sponsor before 1 July 2024 will not count towards the new time periods outlined above.
Ending Onshore Visa Hopping
Visa hopping refers to temporary visa holders continually applying for further visas onshore to extend their stay in Australia with little prospect of becoming permanent residents. These new rules prevent Visitor (subclass 600) and Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) visa holders from applying for Student (subclass 500) visas while still in Australia. This change aims to redirect visitors from graduate visas to employer-sponsored visas.
Workplace Justice Visa
As of 24 July 2024, a new Workplace Justice Visa (subclass 408) has been introduced for migrant workers to remain in Australia for up to 12 months to fight an active workplace claim, if they don’t have any other legal avenue to stay in the country. This change aims to promote justice and helps migrant workers fight exploitation.
Changes to Eligibility for Working Holiday Visas
UK citizens can now apply for a Working Holiday Visa (subclass 417) until the age of 35 (up from 30 previously) and are no longer required to complete ‘specified work’ such as farm work or construction in regional areas to be eligible for a second- or third-year visa.
Citizens from the Philippines aged 18-30 have become eligible to apply for a Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462), allowing them to spend up to a year in Australia engaging in short-term work, study and/or travel.
IMPACT FOR EMPLOYERS:
One concern surrounding these new changes revolve around the ability for sponsored employees to potentially take advantage of an employer providing them with sponsorship to gain access to the country and then leave shortly afterwards. Employers can mitigate this risk by including specific clauses in employment contracts that allow them to recoup certain costs if an employee leaves within a specified period of time. However, overly restrictive conditions might end up pushing employees away, therefore a healthy organisational culture and a strong retention strategy to incentivise sponsored workers to stay working within the company is the recommended approach.
If you would like more information on how these changes may impact your or your organisation, please contact us via the link below.
