Temporary Migration report tabled in the Senate

Looking ahead at a need to solve the labour issues for the coming picking season, the Federal Government, Senate Select

Committee on Temporary Migration has tabled a report to parliament making 40 recommendations for reform aimed at protecting vulnerable temporary visa holders.

The National Party has recently proposed an amendment to the current Visa requirements for temporary workers.

The committee received 131 submissions from individuals and organisations in reaching its conclusions.

The recommendations included:
• Significantly increasing the resources provided to the Department of Home Affairs to improve visa application assessment times
• The abolition of the 88-day farm work requirement of the Working Holiday Maker program
• Increasing Australia’s quarantine capacity for the inclusion of seasonal workers
• Improving the flexibility of the Seasonal Worker Programme to allow greater engagement of people from the Pacific region and Timor-Leste in agriculture specific work
• Banning employers who exploit workers from employing temporary visa holders
• Significantly increasing the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold to restore fairness to Australia’s skilled shortage by protecting local workers
• Providing protections to those temporary visa workers who report exploitation
• Establishing a small-claims tribunal to resolve wage theft disputes
• Holding franchisors financially responsible for the underpayment of employees by franchisees

A copy of the report and more details about the inquiry are available on the committee’s website.

In delivering the report to the Senate, Senator Raf Ciccone said, “We’ve heard of farmers struggling to access the labour they need to meet their demands in harvest periods and of their frustration in navigating visa programmes and the bureaucracy surrounding

Australia’s various labour schemes.

“In these submissions we heard stories from those with all manner of life experiences—but there is one story that runs true through almost every one of them and that is the story of a broken system that is failing to deliver for those that need it to.

“Mr President, over the course of the past two years we’ve heard of temporary visa worker exploitation, wage theft, physical abuse and sexual harassment.

“We’ve heard of visa assessment times stretching into not just the months, but the years. Of a systemic lack of communication from the Department of Home Affairs with visa applicants.

“Temporary migration has a role to play in areas where we cannot skill up enough Australians quickly to meet demand. That is why we need to reset our migration program to meet the unprecedented economic challenges we are currently facing.”