Australian unions criticise proposals for short-term working visas

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) has warned that local workers will be the biggest losers from the country's proposed short-term working visas scheme.

Responding to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)'s discussion paper on skilled migrants on Tuesday, the ACTU issued a critical response.

They labeled short-term working visas as unnecessary and claimed they will put Australians out of work.

The ACTU also suggested the proposals have only been made to suit foreign nations following the Australian government's recent free trade agreements with South Korea, Japan and China. "The paper fails to make the case for why this and other new visas are needed at this time,"the ACTU said via a statement released on Tuesday. "It appears to have been driven more by the government's deregulatory agenda and the wishes of particular employers in particular sectors wanting to attract overseas workers, rather than a wider view of what is in the public interest."

Data released by the DIBP highlighted that fewer employers would seek hiring foreign staff when labour market testing restrictions, which examine English language skills and certain skill requirements, were in place.

Therefore, proposals to enable staff on short-term working visas to bypass labour market testing also drew concern from the ACTU. "There has been a much larger decline in visa nominations by employers in occupations covered by labour market testing, compared to average monthly numbers in occupations exempted from labour market testing,"they said. "Based on these findings, if labour market testing had been applied to the other 73 percent of occupations not currently covered by labour market testing, then there would have been an estimated 6,500 additional jobs available to local workers over that period."

The ACTU's biggest fear regarding the proposals remains that the Australian government is not placing a high enough priority on its own workers, even when unemployment rates around the country remains high. "In coming up with these proposals, the interests of Australian workers appear to have been a secondary consideration, despite the review having as one of its principles, the need to ensure the primacy of Australian workers,"the ACTU said.