New model to simplify temporary work visas
Joint Media Release with Senator Chris Bowen – Minister for Immigration and Citizenship and Senator Nick Sherry – Minister for Small Business, Minister Assisting on Deregulation, Minister Assisting on Tourism
Friday, 17 December 2010
Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Bowen MP, and Minister Assisting on Deregulation, Senator Nick Sherry, today affirmed the government's commitment to simplifying the temporary work visa process.
A simplified model for temporary work visas is proposed in a discussion paper, Implementing a simpler framework for temporary residence work visas, available on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship website.
See: Creating a Simpler Framework for Temporary and Permanent Entry to Australia
An initial discussion paper on visa simplification was released on 4 June 2010.
‘The government has considered submissions made in response to the initial discussion paper and has drawn up its proposed model for visa simplification,’ Mr Bowen said.
‘The government has committed to reducing the number of temporary work visas by 50 per cent by 2012 and to target a 50 per cent reduction in the total number of visa subclasses by 2015.
‘The final settings for simplified temporary work visas will be decided after further public consultation, based on feedback to this latest discussion paper.’
The initiative to simplify Australia's visa system is being undertaken as part of the government's Better Regulation Agenda, aimed at cutting the red tape burden, recognising that Australia's immigration system is an important source of skilled labour which contributes to productivity improvements and economic growth.
‘The proposed model reduces the number of temporary work visas from 18 to nine by merging common regulatory requirements,’ Senator Sherry said.
‘This will achieve further simplification by standardising similar regulations and removing regulations where they are assessed as being no longer required.’
The objectives of the partnership on working visa simplification are to:
- simplify the existing visa framework while maintaining current levels of client eligibility for visas
- make it easier for clients to understand and engage with Australia's visa requirements
and - ensure border security and program integrity are maintained in the immigration program.
Interested parties are encouraged to read the proposal and provide comments by 4 February 2011.
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/2010/cb10088.htm
Last update: 17 December 2010 at 11:47 AEST