Labor pledges to reform work visas if elected
The Federal Opposition will abolish the Coalition Government’s Short-Term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL) and Medium and Long-Term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) if it wins government at the next federal election.
If elected, a Labor government will replace the STSOL and MLTSSL with one Skills Shortage Occupations List, which will offer pathways to permanent residency.
Currently, the majority of eligible hospitality occupations are include on the STSOL, chefs are generally eligible for the medium or long-term stream.
Labor also said it would establish the Australian Skills Authority (ASA) as an independent, labour market testing authority responsible for creating and maintaining the Skills Shortage Occupations List. What occupations are included will be determined through consultation with industry, unions, higher education and TAFE sectors, as well as state and local governments.
The Restaurant and Caterers Association (R&CA) CEO Juliana Payne, welcomed the announcement. “Our industry’s businesses have been facing significant challenges in recruiting suitably skilled employees, particularly chefs, for many years now,” said Payne.
“Since the 482 TSS visa replaced the 457 visa, restaurant establishments have found it increasingly hard to attract skilled foreign nationals to fill vacancies because there was no longer any pathway to reward cooks and restaurant managers with an employer-supported permanent residence visa.”
Sheridan Randall, 22nd March 2019
