Framework and operation of subclass 457 visas, Enterprise Migration Agreements and Regional Migration Agreements
Information about the Inquiry
On 20 March 2013 the Senate referred the following matter to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committees for inquiry and report.
The current framework and operation of subclass 457 visas, Enterprise Migration Agreements and Regional Migration Agreements, including:
(a) their effectiveness in filling areas of identified skill shortages and the extent to which they may result in a decline in Australia's national training effort, with particular reference to apprenticeship commencements;
(b) their accessibility and the criteria against which applications are assessed, including whether stringent labour market testing can or should be applied to the application process;
(c) the process of listing occupations on the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List, and the monitoring of such processes and the adequacy or otherwise of departmental oversight and enforcement of agreements and undertakings entered into by sponsors;
(d) the process of granting such visas and the monitoring of these processes, including the transparency and rigour of the processes;
(e) the adequacy of the tests that apply to the granting of these visas and their impact on local employment opportunities;
(f) the economic benefits of such agreements and the economic and social impact of such agreements;
(g) whether better long-term forecasting of workforce needs, and the associated skills training required, would reduce the extent of the current reliance on such visas;
(h) the capacity of the system to ensure the enforcement of workplace rights, including occupational health and safety laws and workers' compensation rights;
(i) the role of employment agencies involved in on-hiring subclass 457 visa holders and the contractual obligations placed on subclass 457 visa holders;
(j) the impact of the recent changes announced by the Government on the above points; and
(k) any related matters.
Submissions should be received by 26 April 2013. The reporting date is 24 June 2013.
The Committee is seeking written submissions from interested individuals and organisations preferably in electronic form submitted online or sent by email to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au as an attached Adobe PDF or MS Word format document. The email must include full postal address and contact details.
Alternatively, written submissions may be sent to:
Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia
Notes to help you prepare your submission are available from the website at https://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/wit_sub/index.htm. Alternatively, the Committee Secretariat will be able to help you with your inquiries and can be contacted on telephone +61 2 6277 3560 or facsimile +61 2 6277 5794 or by email to legcon.sen@aph.gov.au.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to Parliament House TTY number 02 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools at http://access.adobe.com/ for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. If you require any special arrangements to enable you to participate in the Committee's inquiry, please contact the Committee Secretariat.
Once the Committee accepts your submission, it becomes a confidential Committee document and is protected by Parliamentary Privilege. You must not release your submission without the Committee's permission. If you do, it will not be protected by Parliamentary Privilege. At some stage during the inquiry, the Committee normally makes submissions public and places them on its website. Please indicate if you want your submission to be kept confidential.
For further information, contact: Committee Secretary
Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia