Promoting local employment or unduly stifling temporary work visas? Introduction Immigration policies will be a key focus at the upcoming Federal election. In a press release dated 23 April 2019, the opposition Labor party released the first details of its proposed...
New skilled regional provisional visas
There will be two new skilled regional provisional visas introduced in November 2019: Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa: for people sponsored by an employer in regional Australia; and Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa: for people who are...
Regional cities back the Australian Government’s new migration plan
PROVIDE MORE SUPPORT: Bathurst councillor Monica Morse wants the Federal Government to provide more support systems before sending new migrants to regional areas. Photo: ZENIO LAPKA 101714ztrans3 WILL the Morrison Government's new regional migration plan be a...
How the changes to RSMS have affected small businesses
The changes introduced in March 2018 to the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (subclass 187) visa have changed the face of skilled migration to regional areas significantly, much to the detriment of regional employers. The RSMS is a permanent residence visa...
Australian permanent residency visas? No thanks
While thousands struggle to meet the requirements for Australian permanent residency, some in-demand trade occupations are seeing very low, or even no applications at all. Australia is among the most sought-after immigration destinations across the world with tens of...
Stark drop in apprenticeships is leading to a national skills shortage
FIVE years ago, double the amount of young people turned apprentices. The drop, tradies say, is because they don’t like to work hard. AUSTRALIA is on the verge of an apprenticeship drought — and some tradies are claiming it’s all down to the younger generation being a...
Cutting immigration risks economic growth, business leader says
Designer Karla Spetic, originally from Croatia: ‘We all come from somewhere — that’s the beauty of being Australian’. Picture: John Feder The head of a leading business group has hit back at calls to cut immigration, warning skills shortages are emerging in sectors...
Apprenticeships ‘in crisis’ as numbers plummet
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...
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...