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Saturday, 4 February 2012 |
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457 visas still of concern
Wednesday, 25 August 2004
Stan Beer of the SMH had another look at the ACS's "missing" 457 visa report this week. The report apparently said there are thousands too many temporary immigrant workers in this country, which is having a negative effect on local workers.
When the ACS's new president, Edward Mandla took the helm, it was decided not to publish the report. Mr Mandla told Beer it's being reviewed by Access Economics at the moment.
Bob Kinnaird, the immigration specialist who produced the report, said that temporary IT workers were taking jobs that would otherwise have gone to local graduates. According to him, Computer Science grads have an unemployment rate of 32%, compared to a 20% average for all grads. IT post-grads, meanwhile, have 22% unemployment compared to a 10% average.
He says that government tightening of regulations, and a recovering job market are unlikely to relieve the negative effect.
"Should an upturn occur in the labour market, there is nothing in current laws to prevent employers from ripping into the 457 market again", Kinniard says. "The MODL (Migration Occupations in Demand List), which has been reduced to zero for IT workers, only applies to permanent resident visas, not 457 temporary visas. There are no laws in place to force employers to offer jobs to Australian workers or prevent them for applying for 457 visa sponsorships in any IT area."
Of course, nobody should blame anyone with a 457 visa for taking advantage of the rights the government provides them. It's the law that's at fault, making it too easy for employers, and others, to abuse the system.
It looks like this is going to be a controversial issue for some time. Good on Stan Beer for making sure it's highlighted.
Read the full column in the SMH.
Paul Knapp (editor@brainbox.com.au)
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