Latest figures reveal the number of apprentices employed in Australia has almost halved in just five years, leading the ACCI to declare the system “in crisis”. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) pointed to figures from the National Centre for...
457 visa delays hurting small businesses
The 457 visas won't be abolished until March but Simon Christie's business is already feeling the pinch from the federal government's changes to the visa system. Christie owns video production company Adventure Set Production and has spent the past two years trying to...
Skilled visa crackdown threatens start-up goldrush: StartupAUS report
Australia's start-up community saw a record $1.32 billion of venture capital funds raised in 2016-17, and a record low need for offshore investors to fund deals, but this momentum risked being derailed by restrictions on skilled visas and the research and development...
Extension of 6 month work rights for WHV holders – Au pairs and others
Subclass 417 Working Holiday Visas attract condition 8547 limiting work for any one employer to 6 months. Exemptions can be gained from this time limit for au pairs and in other limited exceptional circumstances. Au pairs Au pairs who can demonstrate they have worked...
Subclass 457 visa applicants taking longer to process
What is the change? Processing times for subclass 457 visa applications are taking longer than normal to process in the final months before the category is abolished and replaced. What does the change mean? According to the most recent Government updates, as of 30...
Australian senate rejects proposed citizenship curbs
Australia's lawmakers have rejected legislation that would tighten citizenship and foreign worker visa rules, a blow to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull who had sought to stop a loss of his support base to far-right political parties. In April, Turnbull said Australia...
Stop worrying about automation: the real problem might be too few workers
Ignore the employment doomsayers -- chances are we're going to run out of workers before automation causes mass unemployment. While neoliberalism is — correctly — the villain du jour, one of its unalloyed successes has been in getting people into jobs. Unemployment...
Temporary 457 visa program still broken
The Turnbull government’s overhaul of the 457 visa system needs some serious tweaks if Australia is going to attract the best and brightest to these shores says a submission from innovation industry groups. Back in April the Turnbull government announced it was...
Australians…where are you?
Push to make it easier for migrants to come to Australia and take hard-to-fill jobs in regional areas SOUTH Australia should be the test site for a radical plan to boost the population in country towns and small cities with foreigners who want the jobs that locals...
457 changes to impact Australia tourism industry
Top chefs, including Neil Perry, say the 457 visa axing will cripple a key part of Australia’s tourism industry A key plank in Australia’s tourism marketing strategy is being put at risk because of changes to the 457 visa program and the country’s top chefs say...