October 4 2023:
Visa Compliance in Focus
On 4 October 2023, the Australian Government, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, held a press conference to announce several visa system reforms.
A key reform is the establishment of a new division within the Department of Home Affairs, to increase Compliance resources in this financial year by 43%.
This follows an inquiry by former police chief Christine Nixon, which found vulnerabilities in the current system, allowing exploitation. Some exploitation are criminal in nature.
The measures announced include:
- 1. Multi-agency ‘Operation Inglebrook’ will be permanent. Inglebrook was set up initially to crack down on sex exploitation in the immigration and visa system, and will continue to address systemic migrant worker exploitation across all industries, and the misuse of the visa and migration system;
- 2. Provide a stronger framework for the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) and increasing financial penalties for those ‘migration agents’ providing unlawful immigration assistance;
- 3. Greater power to cancel the visas of migrants found to have exploited other temporary migrants;
- 4. The government will also invest an extra $50 million (as announced in the recent budget) to establish a new division within the Home Affairs department to increase compliance resources in this financial year by 43%.
Employers
Employers should take note of the Government’s intention to establish a new division within the Home Affairs Department to increase compliance resources in this financial year by 43%.
With such investment, Employers can expect to be audited for visa compliance. Employers are recommended to self-audit to discover any matters of non-compliance in the first instance.
Read our blog on the top 5 tips for Compliance:
