[size=10pt]Number of temporary workers increasing[/size]
February 12, 2007 11:52am
SKILLED migrants are coming to Australia in ever increasing numbers for temporary work, a parliamentary committee has been told.
Department of Immigration and Citizenship deputy secretary Abdul Rizvi told an estimates hearing today there had been a 17 per cent increase in the number of 457 visas awarded in the six months to December 31, 2006, compared with the corresponding period the previous year.
The 457 visa scheme allows foreign workers to come to Australia temporarily to fill particular skilled vacancies if an employer cannot fill the positions locally.
Nurses, chefs and IT professionals are among some of the most common approved applicants for 457 visas.
Primary applicants are the people applying for the visas, while secondary applicants include spouses.
Mr Rizvi told the Senate's Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee today that for the first six months of 2006-07, 21,464 primary applicant visas had been approved, which was 17 per cent higher than the same period in 2005-06, he said.
The Government had approved 39,527 such visas for primary applicants for the whole of 2005-06, excluding independent executives.
A parliamentary inquiry is examining the 457 scheme, which critics say is poorly monitored by the Immigration Department, leaving migrant workers open to abuse and underpayment of wages and entitlements.
