Houston Skills Australia Needs event—more than 650 jobs on offer
American residents with skills and experience in the oil and gas, mining and construction sectors will be able to meet Australian employers with more than 650 jobs on offer at the Skills Australia Needs job fair in Houston, Texas on May 19-20.
Registration for this free event is through the department’s website and they close on May 11.
Skills Australia Needs events offer invited skilled workers the chance to talk to Australian employers and recruiters about jobs available ‘Down Under’ face-to-face.
As well as potential employers, Australian immigration officers will be on hand to talk to participants about skilled visa options to live and work in Australia, either on a temporary or permanent basis, as well as Australia’s new skilled worker registration system—SkillSelect.
Invitees can also meet representatives from several other Australian organisations and government agencies, including:
• Australia’s state and territory governments will talk about what it’s like to live in Australia, and state sponsored visas
• Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) will provide advice about the process for having your skills recognised and the new streamlined arrangements for licensing, which mean workers can start a job on their first day in Australia
• VETASSESS, a US trades recognition agency approved by the TRA to assess skilled workers in the electrical and plumbing trades will provide information about their services, and
• Future Skills International, approved by the TRA to assess electricians will be on hand to answer questions about their services.
This event is the latest in a series that the Australian Government has staged in several countries for many years. The job fair will help Australian employers and state governments fill critical skill shortages in areas of occupational demand in Australia.
Details including the full list of exhibitors, jobs on offer and how to register are available at www.immi.gov.au/skillevents/skilled-workers.htm
New visa subclasses announced on the SkillSelect website.
We have just published information about the new visa subclasses that will be introduced under SkillSelect on 1 July 2012. You should visit the SkillSelect website to find out the latest information.
We hope this information will be useful if you are thinking about migrating to Australia and researching your visa options. Further updates on the legislative framework for the visa subclasses will become available in June 2012.
Details on the outcome of the review of the business skills program will be published when they are available. We will provide you with this information as soon we can. Keep checking this blog and the SkillSelect website for updates.
You will notice that the SkillSelect website looks quite different to the departmental website. The new format aims to make web content easy to access and read for all our clients. We would really appreciate your feedback on the new format, so please let us know what you think in the comments.
To help us ensure that we are providing you with the information you want, we would appreciate if you can answer a simple question below in our poll.
Why did you visit the Migration Blog today?
- 1. I’m an intending migrant, researching my options. (50%, 70 Votes)
- 2. I’m a visa holder who wants to keep up to date with current migration policy. (22%, 30 Votes)
- 3. I’m an employer looking for skilled workers. (2%, 3 Votes)
- 4. I’m an advisor to people seeking to migrate to Australia. (7%, 10 Votes)
- 5. I’m an Australian Government officer. (8%, 11 Votes)
- 6. I’m a member of the public interested in migration policy. (6%, 9 Votes)
- 7. I don’t fit into any of the above categories. (5%, 6 Votes)
Total Voters: 139
Loading ...Attracting overseas skilled workers for the Mining and Resources Sector
SkillSelect presentation at the London Expo
We’re all familiar with media highlighting skills shortages, particularly in the resources sector where there are not enough Australian workers available. A blog post by Tom (June 7 last year) explained how the introduction of Enterprise Migration Agreements would assist employers to secure overseas skilled workers in order to support this important sector of the Australian economy.
Building on this, from July 1 the government will introduce a new method for selecting skilled migrants, called SkillSelect to further help employers seeking skilled workers.
SkillSelect will provide registered employers with access to high quality, pre-screened migrants interested in sponsorship under the subclass 457, ENS and RSMS programs.
It is an efficient and easy to use system that will record intending migrants’ qualifications, work experience, the visas in which they are interested and whether they are willing to work in regionalAustralia. They will have evidence of their English language ability and most will have already had their skills assessed. SkillSelect will bring potential overseas workers to employers and facilitate contact between the employer and intending migrants. In addition, by matching the number of migration program places to the number of visa applications SkillSelect will streamline processing times and speed up the migration program’s response to business needs.
At a recent Skills Australia Needs event we staged in London, 28 Australian employers met 878 pre-screened skilled workers. As many as 500 overseas engineers and tradies will be sponsored to positions which employers were previously unable to fill through the Australian labour force.
Other recent events we’ve presented in Germany, Greece and Dubai have attracted interest from high quality engineering professionals, tradies, and healthcare professionals. Further promotional events are planned for the USA in May. Details will be provided shortly on the department’s website at: http://www.immi.gov.au/skillevents/upcoming-events.htm
You can read more by also visiting the SkillSelect website.
Protecting overseas workers from exploitation – update on sponsor monitoring activities
Australian workplace laws apply universally to all. In addition to these workplace protections, temporary overseas workers have an additional protective framework embodied in the Migration Legislation Amendment (Worker Protection) Act 2008 (the Worker Protection Act) sponsorship obligations.
The vast majority of sponsors are compliant; however, there is a comparatively small number of sponsors who inadvertently fail their sponsorship obligations, and even fewer who are recklessly unscrupulous.
In addition to sponsor monitoring officers, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) also has a highly trained, dedicated inspectorate of 38 officers who maintain a keen eye on sponsors of temporary overseas workers in order to protect them from exploitation. An inspector’s role is to gather information, investigate and assess matters relating to a sponsor’s compliance with their sponsorship obligations under the Worker Protection Act.
DIAC has commenced monitoring on 1398 sponsors; issued breach notices to 270; officially warned 188; and sanctioned 75, which means to 29 February this financial year, we have barred or cancelled sponsorship to a not insignificant number of employers doing the wrong thing.
In addition to administrative sanctions, we also have the power to serve infringements and take civil action; already in the last eight months we have issued 37 infringements to a value of more than $186 000, and filed two applications in the Federal Magistrates Court against sponsors for failing their obligations to their visa holders. Other cases are pending.
During the monitoring process, we also work collaboratively with other agencies. For example, if we uncover issues that fall within the responsibility of the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), we either collaborate with, or refer cases to their inspectors for full investigation to ensure compliance with workplace laws. DIAC and the FWO are also working together to help visa holders understand their legal rights when working in Australia. In December we jointly released a fact sheet about workplace rights, specifically for overseas temporary workers. It is available at http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/skilled-workers/_pdf/457-your-rights-work.pdf
Skills Australia Needs 25-27 February 2012 in London
This month the department is hosting a Skills Australia Needs event in London from February 25-27. It will be one of our largest. We expect around 1400 skilled workers as invited participants to attend.
Skilled workers in engineering and trades will be given the chance to hear from the department about skilled visa options for Australia and to discuss employment and sponsorship opportunities with 28 engineering and trades exhibitors on 25-26 February. The weekend will be followed by an information evening on February 27, featuring 17 exhibitors seeking medical and other healthcare professionals whose skills are also in high demand in Australia.
The department has successfully coordinated Skills Australia Needs events for a number of years in various countries to provide information to skilled workers about skilled visa options for Australia. The events recognise the important contribution of skilled migrants to Australia’s productivity and economic growth by helping to fill critical skill shortages in areas of occupational demand in Australia.
The events also help Australian employers to address specific skill needs they are unable to fill through the Australian labour market by matching them with pre-screened skilled workers in targeted occupations.
Interested skilled workers are invited to attend based on their qualifications and experience in these targeted occupations and their likelihood of meeting Australia’s skilled visa requirements.
More information about Skills Australia Needs events for both skilled workers and employers is available on the department’s website www.immi.gov.au/skillevents/
SkillSelect – Rankings and Invitations explained
In our previous blogs, we discussed SkillSelect and changes to our Skilled Migration Programs. You can view our previous blogs here.
We will now look at what happens after you submit an EOI using SkillSelect.
The below diagram displays the SkillSelect process:
How will you be ranked on your EOI?
Your ranking will be calculated based on the information you provide in your EOI. EOIs are ranked using points achieved on the skilled migration points test. A prescribed pass mark will be set as the minimum points score required for each visa category.
Ranking will be conducted electronically by SkillSelect with no intervention by the department. Equally scoring EOIs will be separated by time of submission with earlier submission dates ranking more highly.
After submitting your EOI, you can view your point score; however you will not see your ranking because it will be continually changing. After each invitation round we will publish on our website the lowest score of a successful EOI for each occupation group. This will provide an indication of the score required to receive an invitation.
You can update your EOI at any time until you receive an invitation or your EOI expires. If you provide new information that changes your points score, SkillSelect will update your ranking automatically including your date of submission.
You should understand that if you provide false or misleading information on your EOI this will subject you to the Fraud Public Interest Criterion – PIC 4020. If it is established that you have provided false or misleading information including to third parties such as approved English language testing providers, assessing authorities, State/Territory governments etc, and your visa application may be refused. You may also be subject to a three year bar which may prevent the grant of a further visa that is subject to assessment under the Fraud PIC.
How do you receive an invitation?
Selected EOIs will be invited periodically to lodge an application. Depending on your visa preference/s, you could receive an invitation from the department for independent migration, family sponsored or from a State or Territory government for State/Territory sponsored or Business Skills migration. SkillSelect won’t issue invitations for any other migration programs.
Independent Migration and Family Sponsored Migration
It is proposed that SkillSelect will automatically issue invitations once per month, with the first round of invitations sent on 1 August 2012. Invitations will be issued to the highest ranking EOIs in descending order, subject to occupation ceilings. The date and time of submission may be used to separate those who score equally to ensure that the number of invitations issued at any one time matches both the number of visa places and the processing resources available. Those who don’t meet the pass mark or don’t score highly enough in a particular invitation round will not be issued an invitation. Departmental officers are not involved in the selection process.
Occupation ceilings are a limit on how many people are selected for points tested migration from an occupation group. This will ensure that these visa categories are not dominated by a narrow range of occupations. Once the limit is reached for a particular occupation group, no further invitations for that group will be issued in that program year with remaining program places allocated to other occupation groups even if they are lower scoring. In the event that the ceiling is reached remaining EOIs from people with skills in that occupation group won’t be affected.
Occupation Ceilings and Invitations
2. State or territory government and employer sponsored visas
State and Territory government representatives will search SkillSelect for prospective people to sponsor. State or Territory governments will be able to nominate prospective applicants at any time using SkillSelect (in accordance with their agreed State Migration Plans and subject to occupation ceilings not being reached). Those nominated will receive an invitation through SkillSelect to apply for a visa.
What happens next?
Invited applicants will have 60 days to lodge a visa application using the department’s electronic lodgement system. The visa application process will occur outside of SkillSelect.
If you receive two invitations in SkillSelect but do not lodge a valid visa application as a result of these invitations, your EOI will be removed from the SkillSelect database and will have to be formally resubmitted to be considered for future invitation rounds.
If you do not receive an invitation, it is proposed that your EOI will remain active in SkillSelect for 2 years. You will have the option to renew your EOI if it expires.
In future blogs we will provide further updates on SkillSelect as our long-awaited implementation date of 1 July 2012 approaches!
For more information on SkillSelect please go to www.skillselect.gov.au
Review of the permanent Employer Sponsored visa categories
Today, the department released a discussion paper which provides the starting point for public consultation on the review of the permanent Employer Sponsored visa categories.
The permanent employer sponsored visas, which include the Employer Nomination Scheme, Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme and Labour Agreements, have become increasingly popular with visa applicants and Australian employers.
This trend is reflected in the changing composition of the skilled migration program. Specifically, how the proportion of employer sponsored places now exceeds the proportion of general skilled migration (GSM) places. In 2010-11 38 per cent of the skilled migration program was employer sponsored and 31 per cent GSM. Contrast this with 2007-08 where only 19 per cent of the skilled migration program was employer sponsored and more than half was GSM.
The growth of the permanent employer sponsored categories can be attributed to the shift toward an actively managed demand driven migration program, the popularity of the subclass 457 temporary visa program and the department’s promotion of these programs through the outreach network and Skills Expos. It is also expected that this trend will continue in to the future.
A demand driven skilled migration program recognises that employers are best positioned to identify the skills that they need to maintain, grow and expand their businesses, and should support them in their efforts. That is, it should offer them the ability to source foreign skilled workers to address their skills needs where they have been unable locate suitable workers from the Australian labour market.
In this context it is vitally important that these visa programs remain responsive to the needs of employers. This will ensure that the best outcomes are delivered for the Australian economy. That’s why this review is so timely, especially given that the last comprehensive review was back in 2004!
In Budget 2011-12 the government announced that the permanent employer sponsored programs would be reformed to fast-track the transition to permanent residence for subclass 457 visa holders who have worked inAustralia for several years.
Providing a fast-tracked pathway for these temporary skilled visa holders makes good sense. In 2010-11 83 per cent of ENS and 59 per cent of RSMS visa approvals were to people who held a subclass 457 when they lodged their application for permanent residence.
The fact that their nominating employer wants to continue to employ them, and will sponsor them for permanent residence, shows that there is a good fit between the visa applicant and the business. It also demonstrates that there continues to be a need for their skills and that they possess the appropriate skills to perform the work.
The discussion paper canvasses this topic, as well as a number of other key issues which will be considered as part of the review. Interested members of the public are encouraged to put forward any views and ideas that will help to improve the permanent employer sponsored programs by Friday 16 September 2011.
The discussion paper can be accessed from the departments website here: http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/discussion-papers/skilled-visas
