Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The incorporated speech read as follows—

The 457 visa program allows overseas workers to enter for a period of up to four years to work in skilled occupations.

I am happy to speak to this bill today as I have had a long running interest in this topic.

2007-08 saw almost 60 000 visas granted to overseas workers. This bill introduces a range of provisions to better protect temporary overseas workers under the Migration Act (1956).

There are four main elements to this bill:

• The bill will improve monitoring powers
• See the introduction of civil penalties for sponsors who breach obligations
• Clarify the obligations that sponsors have and ensure that they are enforceable under the Act
• And importantly, this bill will facilitate greater information sharing among agencies.

The new laws will enable specially trained officers with investigative powers to monitor workplaces and conduct site visits to determine whether employers are complying with the redefined sponsorship obligations.

Fines of up to $33 000 are proposed for employers found in breach of the obligations in the Migration Regulations.

Additionally, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship will retain the ability to cancel an employer’s sponsorship approval or bar sponsors from re-applying for approval for a set period of time.

This bill includes amendments which will allow the Commissioner of Taxation to disclose tax information of visa holders, former visa holders, approved sponsors, or former approved sponsors to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship in order ensure correct salary levels are being paid to all visa holders.

This amendment is complemented by several additional elements that will ensure the long-term success of the 457 visa programme.

As an important initial measure, this government introduced a wage increase of 3.8 per cent as of October this year. This increase comes after a two year freeze on the wages for 457 visa holders under the previous government.

Moreover, in April this year, industrial relations commissioner Barbara Deegan was appointed to conduct a broad review into the integrity of the temporary skilled migration program.

Ms Deegan’s recommendations will inform the development of longer-term reforms to the 457 visa program that will be brought forward in the 2009 Budget.

In June 2007 the previous Government introduced a Bill that included provisions which:

• tightened the monitoring and sanction provisions that applied to 457 visa holders;
• allowed for information sharing between the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the ATO on 457 visa holders and their sponsors; and
• clarified the obligations of 457 visa sponsors.

This was the previous Government belatedly attempting to address stories and examples of abuse of the 457 visa system.

Many of these abuses and cases of exploitation of workers were being characterised by commentators as “horror stories”. Yet in the face of these horror stories, the previous government did not prioritise the legislation and the bill was not passed before the 2007 Election.

Even still, a total of 192 sponsors were formally sanctioned and a further 1353 employers were formally warned in 2007-08. This compares with 95 sanctions and 313 formal warnings issued in 2006-07.

Examples of the horror stories involving 457 visas include the situation that arose with the company Dartbridge Welding.

This matter attracted a great deal of national media attention when it arose in late 2006. Dartbridge Welding recruited approximately 40 welders from the Philippines.

The welders were charged a $3,000 recruitment fee by a Filipino recruitment firm. They were also charged high levels of interest on this debt. Upon arrival in Australia, the welders were immediately taken to a bank and were presented with direct debit authorities to sign to give the employer and recruitment company the right to directly debit funds from the welders bank accounts.

The welders were placed in houses on the western outskirts of Brisbane, and charged $175.00 per week for rent, medical insurance and transport. The employer placed 8 people in each house, with two per each bedroom. The first job the welders undertook at Dartbridge was the fabrication of their beds.

The workers were subjected to a great deal of verbal abuse and threatening behaviour by the owner of Dartbridge. Following contact with the AMWU the welders joined the Union. Three of the most outspoken welders were dismissed from their employment.

Many more were threatened with dismissal and deportation.

In September 2007, Mr Yu Tu Chuoan of Aprint, withheld $93,000 in wages from four Chinese 457 visa workers. Mr Chuoan made the four work more than 60 hours a week and deducted more than ten thousand dollars from their wages for lawyers and travel fees.

Chuoan was fined $9,240 for breaching the Workplace Relations Act. He was not subject to any penalty in relation to breaches of his obligations under the 457 visa scheme. Under this legislation this will no longer be the case.

Recognising the need to address the cases of exploitation and abuse of the system, this Government has revived the bill and extended its scope.

The Migration Amendment (Workers Protection) Bill 2008 now includes important extra provisions:

• The bill now applies to all temporary worker visas. For example, this now Includes, occupational trainees and medical practitioners.

This is to stop employers from simply moving to other visa classes to avoid the bill’s provisions

• The bill now applies to visas issued under labour agreements. Again this is to stop employers from simply moving into labour agreements to avoid the bill’s provisions.
• And the bill now includes provisions which make the system more flexible for employers.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship has been allocated $19.6 million over four years for the implementation of a range of 457 visa integrity measures, including this bill.

Financial impact statement

07/08   08/09       09/10       10/11       11/12

$0m     $5.1m      $5.0m      $4.9m      $4.3m

The Improved sanction powers:

• This bill maintains the sanctions of barring and cancelling where there is a breach of a sponsorship obligation, while providing for two new sanctions– civil penalty proceedings, and infringement notices in lieu of civil penalty proceedings.
• The bill provides that if an approved sponsor fails to satisfy a sponsorship obligation, the Minister may seek an order in the Federal Court or the Federal Magistrates Court that they pay a civil penalty of a maximum of 60 penalty units for an individual (currently $6 600) and 300 penalty units for a body corporate (currently $33 000).
• The bill makes clear that if the sponsorship obligations are not satisfied, the department may impose one, several or all of the sanctions on the approved sponsor (or former approved sponsor). For example, if an approved sponsor was not paying the minimum salary level (MSL) to an employee (and it is a prescribed obligation to pay MSL), the department can cancel the sponsor’s approval. The department may also bar them from making applications for approval as a sponsor for a set period of time and initiate civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court or Federal Magistrates Court.

The improved sanctions are important step forward by this government.

In recognising the contribution that the 457 visa programme makes to our economy, this government remains aware that it is also responsible for ensuring safe and fair workplace for the visa holders while working in this country.

Improved monitoring and information sharing

• This bill introduces new powers for inspector which can be exercised for the purpose of monitoring compliance with sponsorship obligations and for other purposes prescribed in the Regulations.

The new inspector powers are modelled on the workplace inspector powers in the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (‘WRA’). This is to facilitate the carrying out of inspector functions by officers of Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).

• The bill provides that inspectors have the power to enter, without force, any place the inspector has reasonable cause to believe that there is anything relevant to the purposes for which they may exercise their powers.

These powers include:

• The power to inspect the premises;
• The power to interview any person;
• The power to require the production of documents; and
• To copy such documents.

These inspections can be conducted at any time during work hours, or at any other time necessary for the purposes of the power.

• The bill inserts new provisions which will amend the Taxation Administration Act 1953. These amendments allow the Commissioner of Taxation to disclose tax information, if the tax information relates to a visa holder, former visa holder, approved sponsor, or former approved sponsor whose identity has been disclosed to the Commissioner of Taxation by the Minister for Immigration.

This will allow DIAC to confirm with the ATO what taxable salary is being paid to visa holders.

An improved sponsorship framework

• The bill provides that the approved sponsor must satisfy prescribed obligations.

The prescribed obligations clearly set out the period of time in which an obligation must be satisfied, and the manner in which the obligation is to be satisfied.

The result being that for the first time, the obligations are enforceable by law.

• The obligations were the result of wide-ranging consultation with relevant stakeholders.
• Already approved sponsors will not need to go through the sponsorship application approval process when seeking a variation to their current sponsorship arrangements.

This will obviously create efficiencies for the client and for the Department.

• The bill provides that additional sponsorship obligations set out in a labour agreement will be enforceable through the Migration Act.

Regarding Transitional arrangements – existing 457 visa sponsors

• Existing standard business sponsors will be subject to the sponsorship obligations from the date of commencement of the bill and will no longer be subject to existing undertakings.

All aspects of the new sponsorship framework will apply to existing standard business sponsors.

The Rudd Government is committed to ensuring the Subclass 457 visa scheme operates as effectively as possible.

The Rudd government recognises that the 457 visa programme is essential to contributing to the supply of skilled labour for this country.

However, the Rudd government recognises that the benefits of the 457 visa programme must not be enjoyed by this country without ensuring the protection of the employment and training opportunities of Australians and the rights of overseas workers.