457 visa program changes

The government is currently looking closely at the 457 visa program. As Peter Dutton has announced “the Australian Government is committed to ensuring that Australian workers have priority and to reducing the potential for temporary visa holders to be exploited”. This includes an intention to “condense” the CSOL, reducing the number of occupations available for nomination under the 457 program. Recent changes have seen the decrease in the time a 457 visa holder is allowed to find another job after ceasing employment from 90 to 60 days. Also, a new bill (the “Putting Local Workers First” bill) has been introduced (by Labor) which will broaden labour market testing requirements, including requiring a minimum of 4 weeks of advertising for a position.

It looks like it could be interesting times ahead for the 457 visa program…