THE FEDERAL Government will launch a crack down on the temporary skilled migration program, whereby Australian employers bringing skilled workers into the country risk fines for employing people who do not have work rights or work in breach of their visas
THE FEDERAL Government will launch a crackdown on the temporary skilled migration program, whereby Australian employers bringing skilled workers into the country risk fines for employing people who do not have work rights or work in breach of their visas.
The recently introduced Migration Amendment (Employer Sanctions) Bill 2006 proposes to reduce the number of illegal workers in Australia and to sanction employers who knowingly or recklessly employ illegal workers.
“Under current law, there is no obligation on employers to check the work rights of employees, even where there is a substantial risk that they are not entitled to work,” said Maddocks immigration partner Maria Jockel.
“These proposed amendments to the Migration Act 1958 introduce a range of new offences directed at those who employ or refer people for employment who are unlawfully in Australia, or who work in breach of their visa conditions,” she said.
According to the government, at the end of 2005 there were an estimated 46,400 people overstaying their visas who were most likely engaged in some form of paid employment.
The maximum penalty for the above offences is two years’ imprisonment, or a fine of up to $13,200 for a natural person or up to $66,000 for a body corporate.
Generally, only Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents and New Zealand citizens who have entered Australia on a valid passport have unrestricted rights to employment. Others need visas which enable them to lawfully work.
Unions have expressed concerns about Australia’s business visa program, claiming the Federal Government issues around 400,000 visas annually –nearly 8,000 a week.
“The number of temporary business visas that are being issued is now double what it was in 1996 and there has been a 24 per cent increase in the number of long stay (up to four years) business visas in the last year alone. The number of long stay business visas now stands at 50,000,” said ACTU president Sharan Burrow.
With so many visas being issued, she said the Government seems unable to properly assess the validity of the applications and is unable to check that the overseas workers are getting the right wages and entitlements.
Burrow said unions were very concerned about reports that employers were rorting the visas to avoid giving jobs to local workers so they can bring in poorly paid overseas workers, and that this is increasing the competition on local workers to lower their pay and conditions.
