{"id":2719,"date":"2013-08-07T18:31:33","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T18:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=2719"},"modified":"2013-08-07T18:31:33","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T18:31:33","slug":"new-laws-to-protect-457-visa-holders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/?p=2719","title":{"rendered":"New laws to protect 457 visa holders"},"content":{"rendered":"

28 June 2013<\/span><\/strong> \u2014 New laws to strengthen [the] 457 visa scheme will protect visa holders from exploitation, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Brendan O\u2019Connor said today.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Connor said legislation that passed through Parliament today will ensure the 457 visa scheme is used the way it was intended and that people on 457s have the protection they need against unscrupulous employers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople on 457s will now have 90 days up from 28 days to secure an employer should their initial employment not work out,\u201d Mr O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be a guarantee on the pay and work conditions required on the 457 visa application to reduce exploitation of visa holders.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd more than 300 Fair Work Ombudsman inspectors will be given new powers to check whether people on 457 visas are being paid the rate stipulated on their visa, and whether they are doing the job described.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Connor said before hiring someone on a 457 visa, employers will be required to check there is no-one local who can do the job \u2014 whether they be a citizen or permanent resident.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralians, both permanent residents and migrants living in Australia should get the first opportunity to get jobs in Australia. That\u2019s only fair and it\u2019s what people would expect,\u201d Mr O\u2019Connor<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Federal Labor Government is making changes to the 457 visa system to make it fairer for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is also fair is that temporary overseas workers must be treated the same and have the same conditions as Australian workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are serious about making sure employers do the right thing and increased enforcement will meant that breaches will be enforced.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not targeting overseas workers, but shonky businesses that seek to exploit them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new laws will also:<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

? Protect overseas visa holders from exploitation, guaranteeing the same pay and conditions as local workers, and extending their visas from 28 to 90 days, after their initial employment ceased. This additional time will allow workers more time to get their families affairs into order if they\u2019re moving home, or to look for another job.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

? Require employers to look local first by undertaking labour market testing. Give greater powers to 300 Fair Work Ombudsman inspectors, to ensure employers are complying with the scheme and equal pay and conditions, and meeting other visa conditions.<\/p>\n

? The Ministerial Advisory Council on Skilled Migration \u2014 a tripartite body comprising unions, industry and government representatives \u2014 will provide advice to the Minister and provide oversight of the Government\u2019s temporary work programs.<\/p>\n

Under the leadership of the new Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Tony Burke<\/strong> MP (pictured right) was sworn in as the new Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship on 1 July 2013.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

28 June 2013 \u2014 New laws to strengthen [the] 457 visa scheme will protect visa holders from exploitation, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Brendan O\u2019Connor said today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2719"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2719\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.philippinesentinel.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}