Australia: Significant Immigration Policy Changes Expected Following Election; New Ministers Appointed

• Eligible foreign nationals under existing and future visa programs will likely benefit from a more streamlined process and pathway to permanent residency.
• Employers will likely benefit from the ability to retain and ensure long-term work authorization for their current employees in the form of permanent residency.

The new government is expected to introduce new rules that will change the regional migration program to encourage skilled migrants to take up jobs in rural and regional locations only where skill gaps exist.

• Employees will likely benefit from priority processing if they are taking up work in rural or regional areas where skill gaps exist.
• Employers in rural and regional locations will likely benefit from a larger pool of talent to fill skill gaps in their areas.

The new government is expected to introduce rules that will prevent the exploitation of temporary overseas workers by requiring that they be paid in accordance with Australian standards and have adequate protection under Australian workplace law.

• Temporary overseas workers will likely benefit from increased rights and protection under immigration law in line with Australian work standards.
• Employers will likely be subjected to higher minimum salary threshold requirements for their temporary overseas workers as well as additional requirements that will lead to the protection of these workers.