Introductory Info
Date introduced: 31 July 2019
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs
Commencement: The later of the day after Royal Assent and 16 November 2019.
Purpose of the Bill
The purpose of the New
Skilled Regional Visas (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2019 (the Bill) is
to make amendments to various legislation in the Social Services, Education,
and Attorney-General’s portfolios, to provide that the holders of new provisional
skilled regional visas (which will commence in November 2019) will have access
to social security payments and certain government services on the same terms
as permanent visa holders.
Structure of
the Bill
The Bill consists of three Schedules:
- Schedule
1 amends social services legislation, namely the A New Tax System
(Family Assistance) Act 1999, the Disability Services
Act 1986, the National Disability
Insurance Scheme Act 2013, the Paid Parental Leave
Act 2010, and the Social Security Act
1991, to provide that provisional skilled regional visa holders are
included in the definition of ‘Australian resident’ for the purposes of
eligibility for social security payments, participation in the National
Disability Insurance Scheme, parental leave and dad and partner pay, and
certain rehabilitation programs. It also makes amendments to provide that,
where newly arrived resident’s waiting periods apply to those payments, the
relevant waiting period will begin on the day a person is granted a provisional
skilled regional visa, not on the day they become a permanent resident.
- Schedule
2 amends the Higher
Education Support Act 2003 to provide that provisional skilled regional visa holders are
entitled to a Commonwealth Supported Place, and are entitled to FEE-HELP if
they are undertaking a higher education unit as part of a bridging course for
overseas-trained professionals.
- Schedule
3 amends the Fair
Entitlements Guarantee Act 2012 to provide that provisional skilled
regional visa holders are entitled to the Fair Entitlements Guarantee.
Background
The Government’s plan to introduce new provisional skilled
regional visas, which will require the visa holders to live and work in a regional
area for three years before being eligible for permanent residency, was first
announced in March 2019 as one part of the Government’s ‘Plan for Australia’s
Future Population’.[1]
The Government intends to allocate 23,000 places for these visas within the
Migration Program each year.[2]
The rationale behind the introduction of these visas is
set out in the document Planning for Australia’s Future Population,
which argues that population growth in Australia has been unevenly distributed
across metropolitan and regional areas, as well as between metropolitan areas,
and that regional areas are suffering from skill shortages that cannot be
addressed through the local labour market:
Regional Australia has skill
shortages and positions that cannot be filled locally. Many regions and
industries are desperate to fill positions so that they can continue to
operate. The Regional Australia Institute estimates there are 47,000 job
vacancies outside capital cities.
We need migration that
contributes to regional communities, meets local skill shortages and invests in
local economies and communities.
The Government’s new regional
provisional visas are designed to support these efforts by encouraging more
migrants to settle and remain in regional areas. These visas will enable
skilled migrants to become established in regional communities and contribute
to regional economies, with a pathway to permanent residency at the end of a
three year period.
Overseas migration has played an
important role in maintaining population in regional areas, contributing
slightly more to population growth than natural increase.
For example, migrants are the
largest contributor to population growth in New England and the Riverina in
NSW, Warrnambool and the Mallee region in Victoria, and the wheat belt and
resource-rich southern part of Western Australia. Of those migrants who settled
outside Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, at least 85 per cent were still
there five years later.[3]
Regulations introducing the two new provisional visas were
tabled in Parliament on 2 July 2019, with the visas scheduled to commence on 16
November 2019.[4]
The new visas are:
- Subclass
491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)) visa, for people sponsored by a state
or territory government, or an eligible family member. The subclass 491 will
replace the existing subclass 489 (Skilled Regional (Provisional)) visa.[5]
- Subclass
494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)) visa, for people
sponsored by an eligible business. The subclass 494 will replace the existing
subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa.[6]
Visa holders will be required to live in regional areas
for three years after which they will become eligible for grant of a permanent visa.
It is intended that ‘regional areas’ for the purposes of these visas will
include all of Australia except for
Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and the Gold Coast.[7] The hope is
that by requiring holders of the provisional visa to live and work in a regional
area, they will develop ties with the community, and remain in that regional
area in the long term, even once they have a permanent visa which no longer
requires them to stay there.[8]
The Regulations
also introduce a new permanent visa, the subclass 191 (Permanent Residence
(Skilled Regional)) visa. This is the permanent visa for which subclass 491 and
subclass 494 holders will become eligible at the end of three years.[9]
The two new
provisional visas introduced by the Regulations are temporary visas. Holders of
temporary visas are generally not eligible for the full range of government
payments and services for which permanent visa holders (that is, permanent
residents) are eligible. The one general exception to this is protected
special category visa (SCV) holders. SCVs are temporary visas which allow
citizens of New Zealand to live and work in Australia indefinitely. Certain SCV
holders who were in Australia prior to 26 February 2001 are classed as
‘protected’ SCV holders, and are eligible for social security payments and
other benefits.[10]
The Minister’s
second reading speech introducing the Bill states that it ‘will give effect to
government policy that holders of new provisional skilled visas ... will have
access to government services consistent with skilled permanent visa holders.’[11] Similarly, the
Explanatory Memorandum states:
The amendments in this Bill give effect to the policy intent
that holders of these provisional skilled regional visas have the same access
to welfare payments and government services as permanent visa holders. This
recognises that the visas provide a pathway to permanent residence.[12]
This appears to
be the first time that this policy intent has been articulated—it was not
mentioned when the new visas were announced in March 2019 or at the time the
amending Regulations were made. A range of provisional visas, which require
certain conditions to be met as a precondition for eligibility for a permanent
visa, already exist within Australia’s visa system. For example, the existing
Skilled Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) visa requires people to live and
work in certain areas, leading to eligibility for a Skilled Regional
(Permanent) visa (subclass 887).[13] As the subclass 489 is classed
as a temporary visa, visa holders are not able to access government payments
and services on the same terms as permanent residents. The policy intent to provide
access to payments and services to holders of provisional skilled visas which
provide a pathway to permanent residency, as though they are already
permanent residents, is therefore a new development.
Committee
consideration
Senate
Selection of Bills Committee
On 12 September 2019 the Bill was referred to the Legal
and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 11
October 2019.[14]
Details of the inquiry are available on the Committee’s inquiry
webpage.[15]
Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
The Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills
had no comment on the Bill.[16]
Policy
position of non-government parties/independents
At the time of writing no non-government parties or independents
have commented on the Bill.
Position of
major interest groups
At the time of writing no major interest groups have
commented on the Bill.
Financial
implications
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill states that the
amendments will have a ‘low financial impact’.[17]
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth), the Government has assessed the
Bill’s compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared
in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The
Government considers that the Bill is compatible.[18]
Parliamentary
Joint Committee on Human Rights
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights considers
that the Bill does not raise human rights concerns.[19]
Key issues
and provisions
Schedule 1—Social
Services legislation
Schedule 1 amends various pieces of social services
legislation, to provide that holders of either of the new provisional skilled
regional visas, and potentially any visas that replace them in the future, will
have access to social security payments, family assistance payments, family tax
benefit, paid parental leave, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, and other
disability services, on the same terms as Australian permanent residents.
Definition
of Australian resident
The key amendment is to the definition of Australian
resident in subsection 7(2) of the Social Security Act 1991,
made by item 21 of Schedule 1. Currently, Australian
resident is defined as a person who resides in Australia and is either
an Australian citizen, permanent visa holder, or a protected SCV holder. Item
21 inserts proposed subparagraph 7(2)(b)(iia) which will have the
effect of including the holder of a provisional skilled regional visa in the
definition of Australian resident.
The definition of provisional skilled regional visa
is inserted into subsection 7(1) of the Social Security Act by item
20, which provides that it will include the subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional
(Provisional)) visa, the subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional
(Provisional)) visa, or a visa determined in a legislative instrument. Proposed
subsection 7(4C) (inserted by item 23), provides that the Minister
may make a legislative instrument determining that a visa meets the definition
of provisional skilled regional visa on advice from the Immigration Minister
that the subclass 491 or subclass 494 has been, or will be, replaced by a visa
intended to provide the same benefit as the replaced visa.
The effect of this will be that holders of the new
provisional skilled regional visas, and potentially any visas that replace them
in the future, will be considered to be Australian residents for the purposes
of eligibility for payments under the Social Security Act. They will
also be considered Australian residents for the purposes of eligibility for
payments under the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999, the Paid
Parental Leave Act 2010, and the Farm Household Support Act 2014, as
these Acts link their definition of Australian resident to the definition in
the Social Security Act.
The Explanatory Memorandum notes:
extending the definition to include provisional skilled
regional visa holders is a departure from the long-standing position that
eligibility for social security pensions and benefits ... is generally limited to
permanent visa holders. This extension reflects that provisional skilled
regional visas provide a pathway to permanent residence.[20]
As outlined above, there are existing provisional visas
that provide a pathway to permanent residency that do not provide entitlement
to social security payments. This therefore represents a significant change in
policy regarding provisional visas.
Newly
arrived resident’s waiting periods
Most social security payments and concession cards have
either a waiting period or qualifying residence criteria that apply to new
arrivals in Australia. These waiting periods generally begin when a person is
granted a permanent visa—time spent in Australia on a temporary visa is not
counted. Waiting periods for those newly arrived residents granted a permanent
visa after 1 January 2019 are:
- four
years for Bereavement Allowance, Farm Household Allowance, Newstart Allowance,
Mobility Allowance, Sickness Allowance, Youth Allowance, Austudy, Commonwealth
Seniors Health Card, Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card, Low Income
Health Care Card, Parenting Payment, Pensioner Education Supplement, and
Special Benefit
- two
years for Carer Payment, Dad and Partner Pay, and Parental Leave Pay and
- one
year for Carer Allowance and Family Tax Benefit Part A.[21]
Other payments do not have a newly arrived resident’s
waiting period, but have their own ‘qualifying residence’ requirements. For
example, Age Pension and Disability Support Pension have qualifying residence
requirements of ten years.[22]
There is no newly arrived resident’s waiting period or qualifying residence
requirement for Family Tax Benefit Part B or Child Care Subsidy.[23]
Exemptions from the waiting periods can apply in certain
circumstances such as where a person is an Australian citizen or a refugee.
Exemptions can also be granted for particular payments in certain situations.
For example, a Newstart Allowance claimant may be exempt from the newly arrived
resident’s waiting period if they became a lone parent or the principal carer
of a dependent child since arriving in Australia as an Australian resident.[24]
The Bill amends the Social Security Act to provide
that provisional skilled regional holders will be subject to the newly arrived
resident’s waiting periods on the same terms as permanent visa holders. The
waiting period will begin on the day on which they are granted the provisional
skilled regional visa, and will not begin again when they are granted a
permanent visa.
Existing subsection 7(4B) currently defines the day on
which a person becomes the holder of a permanent visa, or a permanent visa is
granted, for the purposes of calculating a newly arrived resident’s waiting
period. This is either:
- the
day an initial decision maker decides to grant the visa or
- if
the initial decision maker decides not to grant the visa, but this
decision is set aside on review, the date of the initial decision maker’s
original decision.
Item 22 omits the word ‘permanent’ wherever it
occurs in this provision, which allows the same rules to apply to a provisional
skilled regional visa holder.
Proposed paragraph 739A(1)(c) provides that a
provisional skilled regional visa holder will be subject to a newly arrived
resident’s waiting period in relation to eligibility for Special Benefit.[25]
Proposed paragraph 739A(5)(d) provides that the newly arrived resident’s
waiting period for Special Benefit will begin when a person first becomes
either a permanent visa holder or a provisional skilled regional visa holder.[26]
For other payments under the Social Security Act
the newly arrived resident’s waiting period is applied with reference to the
period for a which a person has been an Australian resident, or the day on
which they became an Australian resident.[27]
The amendment to the definition of Australian resident at item
21 (discussed above) will therefore have the effect of providing that the
newly arrived resident’s waiting period begins on the day a person becomes a provisional
skilled regional visa holder (or the day on which they enter Australia as a
provisional skilled regional visa holder, if the visa is granted offshore), as
that is the day on which they become an Australian resident. The effect of this
is that time spent residing in Australia on a provisional skilled regional visa
will count as time served towards the newly arrived resident’s waiting period.
This means, for example, that for payments to which a four
year waiting period applies, a person who resides in Australia on a provisional
skilled regional visa for three years, and then transitions to a permanent
visa, will become eligible after one year on that permanent visa, as the
waiting period will have commenced when they were granted the provisional visa.
Under current arrangements, they would not be eligible for payments until they
had resided in Australia for seven years—three years on a provisional visa to
qualify for a permanent visa, followed by the four year waiting period
beginning on the date of the permanent visa grant.
The amendment to the definition of Australian
resident also flows through to the Farm Household Support Act 2014,
meaning that the current four year waiting period for Farm Household Allowance
will also begin when a person becomes a provisional skilled regional visa
holder, and not begin again when they become a permanent visa holder.
Items 1 to 6 amend the A New Tax System (Family
Assistance) Act 1999 to provide that provisional skilled regional visa
holders will be subject to the newly arrived resident’s waiting period for
Family Tax Benefit Part A (currently one year) on the same terms as permanent
visa holders (proposed paragraph 61AA(2)(c)). The waiting period will
begin on the day they become a provisional skilled regional visa holder, and
will not restart on the day they become a permanent resident (proposed
paragraph 61AA(5)(d)).[28]
This will have the effect of causing a provisional skilled
regional visa holder to become eligible for Family Tax Benefit Part A after
they have been in Australia on that visa for one year, rather than the four
years they would have to wait under current arrangements—three years on a
provisional visa to qualify for a permanent visa, followed by the one year
waiting period beginning on the date of the permanent visa grant.
Item 9 amends the Paid Parental Leave Act to
provide that ‘provisional skilled regional visa’ will have the same meaning as
in the Social Security Act.[29]
Items 10 and 15 also amend the Paid Parental
Leave Act to provide that provisional skilled regional visa holders will be
subject to a newly arrived resident’s waiting period for eligibility for
parental leave (proposed paragraph 31A(1)(c)) and dad and partner pay (proposed
paragraph 115CBA(1)(c)).
Items 11 to 14 provide that the waiting period for
provisional skilled regional visa holders to become eligible for Parental Leave
Pay commences from when they are granted a provisional skilled regional visa,
and will not recommence on the day they are granted a permanent visa. Items
16 to 19 do the same in relation to the waiting period for Dad and Partner
Pay.
The newly arrived resident’s waiting period for these
payments is currently two years, beginning on the date a person enters
Australia, or is granted a permanent visa, whichever is latest.[30]
The effect of these amendments is that provisional skilled regional visa
holders will become eligible for Parental Leave Pay, and Dad and Partner Pay,
after they have resided in Australia for two years, rather than the five years
they would have to wait under current arrangements—three years on a provisional
skilled regional visa to qualify for a permanent visa, followed by the two year
waiting period beginning on the date of the permanent visa grant.
Cessation of
qualification for Age Pension and Disability Support Pension
As noted above, there is no newly arrived residence
waiting period for the Age Pension or Disability Support Pension, but these are
subject to a qualifying residence period of ten years.[31]
Exemptions from the qualifying residence requirement can apply in certain
circumstances and an individual claiming the Disability Support Pension is not
subject to the requirement if they became unable to work or permanently blind
while an Australian resident.[32]
Australia also has international agreements with a number of countries which
allow for periods of work or residency in that country to count towards their
qualifying residence period in Australia.[33]
Items 25, 26 and 27 amend the Social Security
Act to provide that persons who qualify for the Age Pension or Disability
Support Pension while they hold a provisional skilled regional visa, and do not
complete the pathway to a permanent visa, will cease to qualify for those
pensions in the following circumstances:
- if
they do not apply for a permanent visa, they will cease to qualify when they
cease to be a provisional skilled regional visa holder or
- if
they apply for a permanent visa while holding a provisional skilled regional
visa holder and the permanent visa is refused, they will cease to qualify when
the permanent visa refusal is finally determined, and they no longer hold a
provisional skilled regional visa.
The Explanatory Memorandum states that this is to ensure
that provisional skilled regional visa holders who do not complete the pathway
to permanent residency do not retain ongoing access to social security
payments.[34]
This is consistent with the policy intention that access to payments for
provisional skilled regional visa holders is being provided on the basis that
they will eventually become permanent residents. A similar cessation provision
is not needed for other payments because eligibility for those payments ceases
when a person is no longer an Australian resident—this is not the case for Age
Pension and Disability Support Pension.[35]
Disability
services
Item 7 amends section 21 of the Disability
Services Act, which sets out the citizenship and residency requirements for
the provision of rehabilitation programs by the Commonwealth. These are
programs provided by disability employment services providers through the Disability
Management Service, which provides rehabilitation programs for job seekers with
disability, injury or health conditions, who need assistance to find a job and
occasional support to keep a job.[36]
Currently, section 21 provides that rehabilitation
programs shall only be provided to a person who is an Australian citizen or ‘a
person resident in Australia whose continued presence in Australia is not
subject to a limitation as to time imposed by or under a law of the
Commonwealth’.[37]
Item 7 amends this to provide that a person is eligible for these
programs if they are an Australian resident as defined in the Social
Security Act. The effect of this item, combined with item 21 (see
above), is that provisional skilled regional visa holders will become eligible
for these rehabilitation programs.
This provision will have two further consequences. First,
it will mean that being an Australian citizen will no longer be sufficient to
meet the eligibility criteria for the rehabilitation programs—it will also be
necessary to reside in Australia. This is because the definition of Australian
resident in the Social Security Act provides that a person must be an
Australian citizen, permanent resident or protected SCV holder, and must
reside in Australia.[38]
The Explanatory Memorandum states that this change in the eligibility criteria
requiring the person to be resident in Australia is consistent with established
policy.[39]
Secondly, it will have the effect of excluding certain New
Zealand citizens residing in Australia on an SCV from eligibility for these
programs. The current scope of section 21, as including a resident whose
continued presence in Australia ‘is not subject to a limitation as to time ...’
would appear to include all New Zealand citizens residing in Australia on an
SCV, whether they are a protected SCV holder or not. This is because, while the
SCV is classed as a temporary visa, there is no time limitation imposed on the
length of stay permitted—a New Zealand citizen may reside in Australia on an
SCV indefinitely.[40]
By aligning the residence requirement for rehabilitation programs under the Disability
Services Act with the residence definition under the Social Security Act,
those programs will be available to SCV holders only if they are
protected SCV holders. The Explanatory Memorandum does not address this
consequence of the amendment, but restricting payments and services to
protected SCV holders is also consistent with current policy.
Item 8 amends the National Disability Insurance
Scheme Act by inserting proposed subparagraph 23(1)(b)(iia). This
provides that a person will meet the residence requirements for participating
in the National Disability Insurance Scheme if they are the holder of a
provisional skilled regional visa (as defined by the Social Security Act).
Currently, only Australian residents who are citizens, permanent visa holders
or protected SCV holders, satisfy the residence requirements for the Scheme.[41]
Application
and transitional arrangements
Item 30 provides that the amendments to the starting
dates of waiting periods for Family Tax Benefit Part A, Parental Leave Pay and
Dad and Partner Pay, and Special Benefit, apply in relation to a person who
becomes a visa holder before or after commencement of the item. This is to
ensure that if the Act does not commence before 16 November 2019 when the new
provisional skilled regional visas commence, persons granted a visa between 16
November and commencement of the Act will be considered to have commenced the
waiting period on the day they become a holder of the visa.[42]
Similarly, Item 31 is a transitional provision
which provides that any period prior to the commencement of the item during
which a person was a subclass 491 or subclass 494 visa holder is taken to be a
period in which they were an Australian resident for the purposes of the Social
Security Act, and the newly arrived resident’s waiting period under the Farm
Household Support Act.
Schedule 2 –
Higher Education
Schedule 2 makes amendments to the Higher Education
Support Act 2003 (HESA), to provide that holders of the new provisional
skilled regional visas, and potentially any visas that replace them in the
future, will have the same access to Commonwealth Supported Places (CSP) and
FEE-HELP as Australian permanent residents.
CSPs subsidise higher education course fees for eligible
students, typically in undergraduate bachelor degrees at public universities.[43]
FEE-HELP, part of the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), allows eligible
students to defer their course fees for full-fee-paying courses (that is,
courses where a CSP is not available) and repay the cost through the tax system
once they earn above a compulsory repayment threshold.[44]
Item 1 amends paragraph 36-10(2)(c) of the HESA
to provide that a person meets the citizenship or residency requirements for
the purposes of being considered a Commonwealth supported student if they are a
‘provisional skilled regional visa holder’ who will be resident in Australia
for the duration of the unit. Item 3 amends paragraph 104-5(1)(c) of HESA
to provide that a person who is a ‘provisional skilled regional visa holder’
will be eligible for FEE-HELP if they are undertaking a higher education unit
as part of a bridging course for overseas-trained professionals, and will be
resident in Australia for the duration of the unit.
The definition of provisional skilled regional visa
holder is inserted into subclause 1(1) of Schedule 1 of HESA by item
4, which provides that a person meets this definition if they are the
holder of a subclass 491 (Skilled Work Regional (Provisional)) visa, or a
subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)) visa, or ‘a
visa of a kind determined in an instrument under subclause 1(4)’.
Proposed subclause 1(4) is inserted into Schedule 1
of HESA by item 5. It provides that the Minister may make a
legislative instrument to determine a kind of visa for the purposes of the
definition of ‘provisional skilled regional visa holder’ under the Act, on the
basis of advice from the Immigration Minister that the subclass 491 or subclass
494 has been, or will be, replaced by a visa that is intended to give the same
benefit as the replaced visa.
Item 6 provides that the amendments relating to
access to CSP and FEE-HELP for provisional skilled regional visa holders will
apply to units of study with a census date on or after the commencement of the
item (either 16 November 2019 or the day after Royal Assent, whichever is
later).
The effect of these proposed amendments is that holders of
the new subclass 491 and subclass 494 visas, and potentially (at the Minister’s
discretion) any visas which replace these visas in the future, will meet the citizenship
and residency requirements that determine eligibility for a CSP, and FEE-HELP
entitlement for bridging courses for overseas-trained professionals. Specific
eligibility requirements, which are different from the general requirements to
access FEE-HELP, apply to FEE-HELP for bridging studies.[45]
This mirrors current entitlements to CSP and FEE-HELP under HESA for
permanent visa holders. The amendments will not provide provisional skilled
regional visa holders with access to HECS-HELP, or FEE-HELP other than for a
limited range of bridging courses, as access to these is not currently
available to permanent visa holders. As such, a person accessing a CSP under
these provisions will not be eligible to access a student loan and will need to
pay the non-Commonwealth-subsidised portion of their course fees up front.
HESA does not impose any waiting periods for visa
holders in relation to these entitlements, so provisional skilled regional visa
holders will become eligible for these entitlements immediately, once their
visa is in effect and they are resident in Australia.
Schedule 3 –
Fair Entitlements Guarantee
Schedule 3 amends the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Act
2012 (FEG Act) to extend access to the Fair Entitlements
Guarantee to holders of the new skilled regional provisional visas, and
potentially any visas that replace them in the future.
The Fair Entitlements Guarantee is a legislative safety
net scheme provided by the Australian Government under which eligible employees
may make a claim for unpaid wages and entitlements if they lose their job due
to employer liquidation or bankruptcy.[46]
Currently, only people who are Australian citizens, or who
hold a permanent resident visa or an SCV (as discussed above, available only to
New Zealand citizens, enabling them to live and work in Australia indefinitely)
meet the citizenship and residency requirements relating to eligibility for the
Fair Entitlements Guarantee.[47]
Items 1 and 2 amend the FEG Act to provide
that holders of the new subclass 491 and subclass 494 visas, and any future
visa determined by the Minister on the basis of advice from the Immigration
Minister that the subclass 491 or subclass 494 has been replaced by a new visa
intended to provide the same benefits, will also meet the citizenship and
residency requirements for entitlement to the Fair Entitlements Guarantee.
Family
members of skilled migrants
The amendments in this Bill will extend access to these
entitlements not only to the skilled workers who hold a provisional skilled
regional visa, but also to their accompanying family members. Under Australia’s
Migration Program, skilled migrants are generally eligible to bring family
members (spouses and dependent children) to Australia with them, and these
family members are granted the same visa as the skilled migrant. Family members
are known as ‘secondary visa holders’ while the skilled migrant who qualified
for the visa is known as the ‘primary visa holder’. The Explanatory Statement
to the Regulation that introduces the new provisional skilled regional visas
confirms that this will be the case for these visas:
Both the Subclass 491 and
Subclass 494 visas enable members of the family unit to make a visa application
at the same time as the primary applicant ... Both Subclass 491 and Subclass 494
visas are granted for 5 years from the date of grant to primary applicants.
Secondary applicants granted a Subclass 491 or Subclass 494 visa are granted a
visa aligning to the end date of the primary applicant’s visa.[48]
Hence the family members (spouses and dependent children)
of skilled workers who qualify for one of the new provisional skilled regional visas,
as well as the skilled workers themselves, will become eligible for access to
the payments and services on the terms provided for in this Bill.