Skilled migrants for the fast track

Immigration Minister Chris Evans. Pic by: Marie Nirme

Specialist teams to fast-track the visas of skilled workers and an accreditation system for employers who regularly hire overseas labour are the main recommendations of an independent committee set up to tackle Australia's skills crisis.

As the Government promised yesterday to implement 14 of the industry group's 16 recommendations, it emerged that almost half of all skilled-migration visas are taking too long to process, because of a 17 per cent spike in applications.

The review's release will be followed today by a paper from labour market consultant Bob Kinnaird, who claims that almost one worker in five under the program is being paid below the average annual salary of $50,000.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans said yesterday his department would establish dedicated centres of excellence in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth - the principal destinations for 457 visa workers - aimed at expediting skilled visa applications.

In one recommendation not endorsed by Senator Evans, the review found the program was not suitable for addressing the general labour shortage and recommended the Government set up pilot schemes to alleviate the problem.

Senator Evans agreed to consider a recommendation that the 457 visa be renamed the "temporary skilled migration" visa to improve market recognition.

The 457 visa program has become the main tool used to combat what the Government, the Opposition and industry agree is a skills crisis.

Last year, 46,680 primary 457 visas were issued. Health and IT workers were among the most sought after professionals.

The report was conducted by former chair of Xstrata and the Minerals Council Peter Coates, deputy chief executive of the Business Council of Australia Melinda Cilento and former chief executive of the WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy Tim Shanahan.

Its release came as Senator Evans told a Senate estimates committee that 5795 skilled migrant visas had not been processed within the required time of two to three months - just under half of the 12,340 applications now in the queue. Staff would be working overtime to clear the backlog, he said.

Opposition immigration spokesman Chris Ellison slammed the delays.

"This report also confirms that business is experiencing significant delays in having their visas processed, with 37 per cent of low-risk onshore visa applications taking longer than eight weeks to be finalised," he said.

An accreditation system for employers who used the system regularly and were deemed "low-risk", and the development of a long-term program that addressed structural trends in the labour market, were among other recommendations.


The Australian, May 6, 2008