Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

I table an addendum to the explanatory memorandum.

I want to thank all those members of parliament who contributed to this debate. This bill implements a commitment made by the government through the migration strategy to introduce a new temporary skilled worker visa, the skills-in-demand visa. The bill will legislate the income thresholds and index those thresholds for the specialist skills, core skills and proposed essential skills streams for the skills-in-demand visa, which is replacing the temporary skill-shortage visa.

The protection of Australian workers and their jobs and incomes is paramount for this government. That's why this bill legislates minimum income thresholds that will ensure persons nominated to work in Australia are less likely to be displacing an Australian worker and will be less vulnerable to exploitation, as the bill ensures that they receive fair remuneration. Legislated income thresholds will also ensure that persons nominated to work in Australia have adequate wages to support themselves and their families. Indexation of these wages ensures parity between migrants and Australian workers and that, over time, migrants are not paid less than Australian workers where they're performing the same role.

The bill also provides protections and oversight mechanisms through the establishment of a public register of approved sponsors. The register includes the name of the approved sponsor, their business postcode, the number of sponsored workers and their occupations. This will help temporary skilled migrant workers find a new sponsor and provide a resource to check that a sponsoring employer is legitimate.

The bill provides for annual indexation of the income thresholds for the specialist skills and core skills streams. This ensures that persons nominated for these streams have adequate wages to support themselves and their families whilst they're in Australia. Indexation of these wages ensures parity between migrants and Australian workers so that migrants will not be paid less than Australian workers where they are performing the same role. Proposed annual indexation of the income thresholds for the essential skills stream will be determined in each agreement or in accordance with the requirements prescribed in the amendment to the Migration Regulations.

Based on the feedback of businesses, the bill amends the Migration Act to provide that labour market testing will be completed within six months—and we're increasing that from four months—prior to the sponsor of a skilled migrant worker lodging a nomination. This change complements the removal of the requirement that we made in December 2023 for employers to advertise positions exclusively through Workforce Australia. The bill provides protections and oversight mechanisms through the establishment of a public register of approved sponsors. The development of a public register is important in ensuring transparency and accountability.

Temporary migrant workers make a valuable contribution not only to Australia's prosperity, fulfilling much-needed labour and skills where shortages exist, but also to our communities, our national identity and our connections across the world. This bill will ensure that persons nominated to work in Australia will be less likely to be displacing an Australian worker and will be less vulnerable to exploitation. It also ensures that persons nominated have adequate wages to support themselves and their families in Australia.

The bill delivers on the government's commitment to introduce a new temporary skilled worker visa to address critical skill shortages and better align the immigration system to the country's workforce needs. The bill is another important milestone in the government's reform agenda in migration policy, and I commend the bill to the chamber.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

See this speech in context