The CFMEU has been one group taking such a line.  Last month they called for a complete halt to the 457 visa program. They have linked this call to the economic downturn, but they have been on the record for a number of years opposing temporary skilled migration visas all together. 

The CFMEU recently stated the government had “listened to the advice of unions to end skilled migration visas for bricklayers, plumbers, welders, carpenters and metal fitters”.

The Immigration Minister, Senator Chris Evans, has made a number of changes to the rules regarding 457 visas in recent months, including reducing the number of occupations which migrant workers are able to access a skilled worker visa through.  Migrant workers on 457 visas also now have to “take out private health insurance at their own expense and cover any school expenses for their children.”

Another change has been to increase the level of English language skills required to qualify for a visa.  Many applicants for 457 visas will now have to qualify at IELTS 5 level instead of IELTS 4.5 (IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System).  This will apply for all occupations in groups 4-7 of the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations, plus all chefs.

To be assessed for a particular IELTS level, a person must demonstrate a level of skill in every one of listening, speaking, reading and writing in English. So even if someone’s speaking and reading of English is excellent, if they are not as good at writing the language, they can get a lower level grading.

The main reason put forward for increasing the level of English language skills is to “address concerns about the exploitation of workers from non-English speaking countries”. 

Preventing the exploitation of any worker is of course very important, but it doesn’t seem very helpful to prevent a migrant worker from being exploited by making it harder for them to get a job in the first place.

I would have thought a better way to stop migrants being exploited would be to strengthen monitoring and the compliance requirements for employers, and provide better support for them if such a thing happens, rather than increasing the hurdles for migrant workers to getting a job in the first place. 

There have been many calls since the current economic crisis started for countries not to slip back into protectionism. Without suggesting the concerns about migrant worker exploitation are anything other than genuine, there is still clearly a strong protectionist component in the arguments some make against temporary skilled migration.  Workers on 457 visas are clearly beneficial to our economy, so we have a vested interest in making sure they are not exploited and do not find it unnecessarily difficult to come here.

The 457 visa program is totally demand driven rather than relying on government to set certain figures for each year. Employers use it if they can’t find a suitable person to fill a vacant position who is already in Australia. As employment levels have decreased, the number of applications for 457 visas has dropped considerably, with the average number of applications per week dropping from 700 last year to just 430 a week for the first three months of this year.

It is likely to continue dropping of its own accord for some months to come.  But there is a risk if the bar is raised too high – in the permanent skilled migrant category, as well as temporary – then there will be more skill shortages when employment picks up again.    Australia also still has to compete with other countries for migrants with skills in particular areas.