It was announced that the visa programs for seasonal workers have been extended in Australia so that the low and unskilled occupations could be added.
According to Michaelia Cash, Australian Employment Minister, it would assist the employers in the agriculture sector to overcome the shortage of seasonal labour, but they require to show that they are not able to find the individuals from their local area.
As per the statistics, more than 8600 visas has been granted to the individuals under this program for supporting the seasonal labour requirement of 70 approved employers.
This seasonal employee program helps the employers of Australia, who are finding difficulty in getting local employees for meeting the seasonal labour requirement to hire from abroad.
Employees that are brought in by the Australian employers are subject to the similar workplace relations and work safety and safeguards as job seekers of Australia.
According to Cash, the seasonal employee program has been very effective in assisting the businesses of Australia to overcome the shortage of seasonal labour. The employers in wide range of agricultural industries like sheep, cattle, grain would now be able to become part of the program.
The changes in the Special Program visa (subclass 416) mean that additional agricultural businesses would gain in the regional areas where there is shortage of labour.
Cash also said that this is a good news for the farming enterprise of Australia that they would now get additional choice for seasonal workers and could plan better for their harvests.
The Minister also specified that the protection has been built in the program like the need for employers to test the local employment market prior they could apply for recruiting the worker under this program.
