Australian Maritime Business Joins Calls for 457 Visa Restructuring

The Australia 457 Visa Scheme has its share of supporters and critics. Both claim that there are some serious issues with the visa plan. While the former asserts that more workers from abroad need to be welcomed under the scheme, the latter, comprising an industry group--representing maritime manpower in Australia--claims that it is high time the government reforms the visa scheme in the favor of the local workers.
 
The said visa--which enables individuals from abroad to do a job in the nation for a maximum of 4 years--is a major contentious visa plan in the nation. Every type of business in the nation reportedly assert that it denotes that big organizations can make use of people from out-of-the-country more reasonably, vis-à-vis Australians, in spite of the supposed checks being in place for them to explore local options first.

The latest numbers from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) reveal that there are 100s of overseas employees duly provided work for in the maritime business under the 457 Visa Plan.

The inclusion of the seafaring jobs on the skilled shortage list allegedly made practical sense for the period of the commodities boom, but not these days when a large figure of individuals in the segment were jobless. Though the 457 system necessitates recruiters/job-providers to try the local job market prior to signing-up overseas workers, allegedly, it is rather poorly regulated.

It is also claimed that, at present, there is not any suitable system. There is no strong system as well for identifying a skill shortage, and for making certain that where an overseas employee is arriving in, they’re not snatching a job away from an Australian employee.

There is also widespread worry that under the national shipping regime, overseas ships may get impermanent licences to move in Australian waters, minus requiring giving their work force Australian salaries.