In response to pressure from business leaders in the ICT industry, the Australian Government announced it would pilot a new visa from 1 July to provide tech businesses the ability to employ highly skilled ICT workers from overseas.
ICT business leaders have widely expressed concerns of not being able to bring in suitably skilled talent from overseas to establish or grow their operations in Australia under the new 482 visa, which has replaced 457’s. Read our article on the difficulties faced by the industry here.
The new visa pilot is therefore a welcome turn-around for the ICT industry with the Minister for Jobs and Innovation Michaelia Cash and Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs Alan Tudge making a joint statement recognising the need to foster innovation in Australia and attract highly skilled global talent. “The Government has since recognised there is fierce competition globally for high-tech skills and talent, and that attracting these people helps to transfer skills to Australian workers and grow Australian-based businesses,” they said.
Migration agent from Interstaff, Sheila Woods said, “We are looking forward to assisting tech businesses with the ability to bring in skilled professionals from overseas once the pilot is implemented. The recent changes to the standard visa program are not particularly responsive to the skills needs of tech and innovation start-ups, so it’s great that there will be an alternative option available.”
Sheila also stated that the new visa pilot, called the Global Talent Scheme, will offer a pathway to permanent residence, providing an added incentive for highly skilled ICT professionals to choose Australia as a destination to contribute their skills.
The visa pilot will be available to both established businesses and start-ups, comprising of two streams with different requirements for each. Our fact sheet can help you determine if your business and prospective candidates are eligible for the new visa.
We encourage ICT businesses who are interested in understanding their obligations under the new visa pilot to contact our migration agents on +61 8 9221 3388 (or National Free Call 1800 449 858) or [email protected]
Source: Minister for Jobs and Innovation Senator for Western Australia
