Scrapping of the Australian Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (Subclass 457)

Specifically, the Australian Government will be abolishing the Subclass 457 visa route and replacing it with the new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in March 2018. The TSS visa may be issued under a short-term stream of up to two years, or a medium-term stream of up to four years and will focus on addressing the genuine skill shortages in the Australian workforce to prioritise the Australian resident labour market.

The TSS visa will include new tightened requirements, some of which include more targeted occupation lists, a requirement for foreign nationals to have at least two years’ of work experience in their skilled occupation, a minimum market salary rate to ensure that foreign nationals will not be engaged to undercut Australian workers, mandatory labour market testing, restrictions on onshore renewals, an extension of the permanent residence eligibility period to three years instead of two, a non-discriminatory workforce test to ensure that Australian workers are not discriminated against, a strengthened requirement for employers to contribute training Australian workers and a mandatory requirement for penal clearance certificates to be provided.