Oz: new laws to protect foreign workers

Keen to strengthen the integrity of temporary overseas work visa arrangements in Australia, the country's Parliament has passed new laws, one of which allows temporary migrants to stay in Australia for up to four years...

Following extensive consultation with industry and unions, the Australian Parliament has finally passed the Migration Legislation Amendment (Workers Protection) Bill 2008, which is designed to give better protection to temporary overseas workers.

Thousands flock to Australia each year through the subclass 457 Australian visa program, to undertake fruit picking and other temporary work and this new bill aims to better protect their rights.

The 457 visa is an uncapped scheme driven by the demands of the labour market and enables employers to sponsor overseas workers needed to fill certain skilled positions and allows migrants to remain in Australia for up to four years.

Australia's Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, has welcomed the introduction of new laws.

"Over the last five years Australian employers have increasingly turned to the temporary skilled migration program to bring in the skilled workers they need," Senator Evans said.

"The resources boom, low levels of unemployment, and the failure of the previous government to invest in the education and training of our own people, have contributed to endemic skills shortages across the country.

"The temporary working visa scheme is only sustainable if the community is confident that overseas workers are not being exploited or used to undermine local wages and conditions," he added.

The amendments proposed in the Bill outline four main measures to protect overseas workers from exploitation.

These measures provide for expanded powers to monitor and investigate possible non-compliance by sponsors; the introduction of penalties for employers found in breach of their obligations; improved information sharing across all levels of Government and defined sponsorship obligations for employers and other sponsors.

Almost 60 000 primary visas were granted to overseas workers in 2007-08 and while the vast majority of employers did the right thing, there have been concerns about the incidence of employer breaches in the programme.

The recent Deegan report highlighted various employer abuses amongst the sponsors of some 60,000 immigrants issued with visas in 2007-2008.

Indeed, during the period, 192 employers were formally sanctioned with a further 1353 receiving formal warnings. The number of sanctions issued was double that in the preceding 12 months. In 2006-07 just 313 formal warnings were issued.

Under the new laws, specially trained officers will be empowered to monitor workplaces and conduct site visits to ensure that employers are complying with the redefined sponsorship obligations. The powers will be similar to the powers of workplace inspectors under the Workplace Relations Act 1996.

Fines of up to £14,000 are proposed for employers found in breach of the obligations in the Migration Regulations. The department will retain the ability to cancel an employer's approval as a sponsor or bar them from making applications for approval as a sponsor for a period of time.

The new laws will also enable the Commissioner of Taxation to disclose tax information to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in order to ensure correct salary levels are being paid to visa holders.

In September of this year, the minimum salary levels for temporary skilled overseas workers were increased by 3.8 per cent after they had been frozen for more than two years.

Picture by kiwanja