Migration Workers Protection Bill (Commonwealth)

A Bill, entitled the "Workers Protection Bill", proposes amendments to the Migration Act to change the framework for the sponsorship of non citizens seeking entry into Australia.

In explaining the background to the Bill, the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, states that access to temporary skilled migrant labour is only sustainable if the community is confident that overseas worked are not being exploited or used to undermine local wages and conditions.  He claims that this Bill provides a framework to better protect overseas temporary workers through four main measures.  These measures provide for:

• expanded powers to monitor and investigate possible non compliance by sponsors;
• the introduction of penalties for employers found in breach of their obligations;
• improved information sharing across all levels of Government; and
• better defined sponsorship obligations for employers and other sponsors.

Specially trained officers, similar to Workplace Inspectors under the Workplace Relations Act, will have the power to monitor workplaces and conduct site visits to determine whether employers are complying with their sponsorship obligations.

Fines of up to $33,000 are proposed for employers found to be in breach of obligations set out in the Migration Regulations. The Department will retain the ability to cancel an employer's approval as a sponsor or bar them from making applications for approval as a sponsor for a period of time.

The Bill also proposes that there be greater information sharing between government departments so as to enable the Commissioner of Taxation to disclose tax information of visa holder, former visa holders, approved sponsors, or former approved sponsor to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in order to ensure that correct salary levels have been and are being paid to visa holders.

Sponsorship obligations are to be redefined, and will be contained in the Migration Regulations.  While the exact extent of obligations are yet to be finalised, the government has indicated that it is committed to ensuring that they will:

• lead to effective and efficient identification of non compliance - for example, this could be done by obliging sponsors to co-operate with monitoring by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship;
• Discourage inappropriate use of temporary skilled visa programs - for example, this could be done by obliging sponsors to reimburse the Commonwealth for location, detention and removal expenses should the visa holder abscond.
• Provide an effective price signal to encourage the hiring and training of Australian citizens and permanent residents; and
• most importantly, to protect workers from exploitation.

In a Senate inquiry into the laws Liberal Senators expressed concern they would impose obligations not available for scrutiny now but which would be introduced in the future.

One of the initiatives contained in the Bill is to make it possible for organisation to access a range of visa classes with one sponsorship approval.  Under the present system, the sponsored visa classes each have different requirements, making it necessary to apply for a separate sponsorship approval in respect of each visa class.

While these changes may result in costs savings to a few businesses that sponsor across separate visa categories, other aspects of the Bill are certain to impose greater burdens on businesses seeking to be approved as Business Sponsors.

For more information on this topic or for Migration Law information generally, please contact one of our Migration Law workgroup.

Our Offices

"Building quality relationships with clients"

November 2008

David Stratton 
Director
T: 03 9614 7111
email: dstratton@nevettford.com.au

Helen Zheng
Lawyer
T: 03 9615 4325
email: hzheng@nevettford.com.au

Of course, it is of a general nature only, and specific advice should be taken before any course of action is pursued.

If you do not want to receive further Business Law e-bulletins from us, please email marketing@nevettford.com.au