Unions slam short term mobility visa skilled worker plan

The nation's peak union body has slammed a plan by the Immigration Department to make it easier for skilled foreign workers to come to Australia.

A new paper from the department proposes a short term mobility visa which would allow specialised staff to work in Australia for up to a year without a 457 skilled migration visa.

The Federal Government said it wants to simply the visa system to make it easier for employers to bring in skilled foreign workers.

The Immigration Department is reviewing the system and, in a new proposal paper, has recommended that a short term mobility visa be introduced.

The temporary visa would allow specialised workers to come to Australia for up to one year without the need for a 457 skilled worker visa.

The paper said that the visa will allow entry into Australia for up to 12 months "to complete specialised work which may include intra-company transfer and foreign correspondents."

Visa holders would be allowed to apply for subsequent visas such as permanent work visas.

Kate Carnell, the head of business group the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said it will help employers fill short term vacancies for specialised workers.

"This is needed because regularly on major projects now a company might need to say install a new piece of equipment in Australia from overseas and they might want to bring in an installer to do the installation," she told The World Today in an interview.

"And there's nobody in Australia who has used that particular piece of machinery before, so bringing someone in for a short period, but longer than six weeks, is really cost effective."

'Unfettered access to the Australian labour force'

However, Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney is scathing of the temporary visa proposal.

"I think it's quite an extraordinary recommendation. We have 6.3 per cent unemployment, we have 14 per cent youth unemployment," she responded.

"The impact of what they are suggesting is almost unfettered access to the Australian labour force."

Stephen Durkin from professionals group Engineers Australia is also concerned because of the high rate of joblessness faced by engineers thanks to the mining downturn.

"The potential for this to be rorted is through employers who might be able to bring in those short-term specialists as either fly-in, fly-out workers ... who might do intra-company transfers," he said.

"What we are concerned about is removing any of those safeguards currently in place could swamp the local market."

Mr Durkin said that Engineers Australia opposes any plan to remove the necessity for employers to prove they cannot find a local worker to fill a job.

"These visas should be a privilege not a right," he added.

Despite the concerns, Kate Carnell has defended the proposal.

"If there are Australian engineers that can do a particular role, Australian businesses will use them because its a much more cost effective and time efficient way to go," she argued.

"What we're talking here is about people with specialised skills that Australian businesses need for reasonably short periods of time."

The Assistant Minister for Immigration, Michaelia Cash, was unable for interview, but her office said the visa is part of proposal paper only at present and the Federal Government would not be commenting prior to public submissions closing at the end of January.

Ms Cash's office said any changes to skilled migration would complement rather than replace the existing workforce.

Opposition immigration spokesman, Richard Marles, said he does not support the department's short term visa suggestion.

"We're deeply concerned about any proposal which sees the removal of labour market testing or English language requirements for temporary skilled migrants," he added.