Labor’s ‘Protecting Local Workers’ Package

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 ‘Protecting Local Workers package’ (‘PLW package’). Advocating significant alterations to the present 482 programme…

132017Dec

By Simon Earles In 457 visas, Latest news, Skilled migration Comments (0)

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 Vocational Education and Research, which showed a 4.7 per cent slide in the…

232017Sep

By Simon Earles In 457 visas, Latest news, Skilled migration Comments (0)

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 has not been above 6.5% since 2002; it was above 6.5% for nearly…

32017Jul

By Simon Earles In 457 visas, ENS visa, Skilled migration, Temporary visas Comments (0)

CEOs, university lecturers among those now able to apply for skilled worker visa

A refined list of occupations eligible to apply for a skilled worker visa comes into effect today, after the Federal Government made a number of concessions. The changes will see people with some occupations such as chief executives or university lecturers now able to apply for a four-year temporary visa instead of a two-year visa….