A levy on sponsored skilled visas announced in the Federal budget in May last year is likely to come into effect next month with the Federal Government bringing a Bill before the Parliament this week to amend the law to effect the changes.
Treasurer Scott Morrison announced an annual foreign worker levy of $1,200 or $1,800 per worker per year on temporary work visas to be paid by employers. Permanent skilled visas will attract a one-off charge of $3,00 or $5,000. The government is hoping to raise $1.2 billion over the next four years from the levy that will contribute directly to the new Commonwealth-State Skilling Australians Fund administered by the Department of Education and Training.
The foreign worker levy will be charged on Temporary Skill Shortage visa that’s replacing 457 visas, Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) and Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (Subclass 187) visas.
Under the existing arrangement, employers employing foreign workers are required to contribute 1 or 2 per cent of their payroll to training. Treasurer Morrison said the current requirement was difficult to police.
Small businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million will have to pay an annual levy of $1,200 for sponsoring a foreign worker's temporary visa and a one-time charge of $3,000 for a permanent skilled visa.
For medium and large businesses (with over $10 million turnover) the levy is $1,800 per year and one-off $5,000 for a temporary and a permanent visa respectively.
States and Territories will only be able to draw on this fund when they deliver on their commitments to train new apprentices.
The government says the Skill Australia Fund will prioritise the funding of apprenticeships and traineeships in occupations that are in high demand and currently rely on skilled migration, or have future growth potential, including in regional Australia.
In order to ensure that businesses properly test the local labour market before sponsoring a foreign worker on a work visa, the Bill proposes that the Home Affairs Minister may determine the manner in which labour market testing for a nominated position must be undertaken.
The Minister may also determine the evidence of such a testing that should accompany a nomination, such as the language in which a job advertisement must be written, the method of advertisement, the period the advertisement occurs in, and the period the advertisement must run for.
