Pharmacists added to the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL)

More health-related COVID-19 relief is on the way, with pharmacists added to the PMSOL in an announcement by the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs. This includes all three occupations within the ANZSCO Unit Group:

251511 Hospital Pharmacist,

251512 Industrial Pharmacist, and

251513 Retail Pharmacist.

The purpose of adding these occupations to the PMSOL is to speed up the vaccine rollout.

Any visa applicant nominated on the now 44 occupations on the PMSOL receive the highest priority of processing for the following sponsored skilled nomination and visa applications:

• Subclass 482 – Temporary Skill Shortage visas,

• Subclass 494 – Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visas,

• Subclass 186 – Employer Nomination Scheme visas, and

• Subclass 187 – Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visas.

WHMs unable to count work experience with excluded employers

New regulations registered over the weekend will see any working holiday maker (WHM) visa holder (subclass 417 – Working Holiday visa and subclass 462 – Work and Holiday visa) who undertakes specified work for an excluded employer not be able to count that work towards an application for a second or third WHM visa. This will only apply to work carried out after the date the employer is listed as an excluded employer and will not prevent the visa holder from continuing to work for the employer after this date if they choose to.

WHMs must perform at least 3 months of specified work, which can vary depending on what visa they hold, as the holder of their first WHM visa to be eligible for their second WHM visa, among other requirements. They require a further 6 months of specified work on their second WHM visa for a third WHM visa.

The purpose of this is to stamp out worker exploitation, which ultimately damages Australia’s reputation with WHMs. The Minister will be able to publish, through a legislative instrument, the name of a person, partnership, or unincorporated association, who may, or whose work may, pose a risk to the safety or welfare of a person. This will cover end user businesses and contractor arrangements such as labour hire firms.

What is deemed “risk to safety or welfare” will be up to the Minister. The Explanatory Statement refers to criminal convictions and recent offending. Those considered a risk will have an opportunity to provide submissions as to why they should not be listed but will not have any rights to any merits review at the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) if they are listed. This is a major departure from the register of sanctioned sponsors maintained by the Australian Border Force. Sanctioned sponsors are published, however, the register also indicates whether a pending AAT review has been sought with an asterisk beside the entry.

These regulations are in addition to a proposed Bill announced on Monday that will increase civil penalties for work-related breaches of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), and prohibit certain employers who have breached the Migration Act or Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) from employing additional non-citizens for a specified period, among other things.

It is hoped that for WHMs, there will be sufficient information and warnings so they can avoid inadvertently working for a business that will not allow them to apply for a further WHM visa. The other issue with this regime is that WHMs must be vigilant in checking the instrument to not have a portion of their work not counted. This may create problems if they wait too long and rely on one employer towards the end of their WHM visa to accrue their specified work.

Temporary parent visas extended by 18 months for those outside Australia on 1 July 2021

Amendments to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) will automatically extend any subclass 870 – Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa holders whose visa is in effect and are outside Australia on 1 July 2021 by 18 months. This is due to COVID-19 travel restrictions and the almost impossible prospect of being granted a travel exemption to enter Australia. As no 870 visa could have expired before 1 July 2021, unless ceased due to other provisions detailed below, as they can only be granted for either 3 or 5 years in duration and the program began in July 2019, there can be no former visa holder not able to benefit from this change.

This is similar to when certain subclass 300 – Prospective Marriage visa holders had their visas extended in December 2020.

This extension does not affect the “ceasing” provision for 870 visas. This is where a visa will cease earlier than its original expiry date when a sponsor has died, or the sponsorship has been cancelled or withdrawn.

There are additional changes to clarify that the maximum a person can hold this visa subclass is 10 years. This subtle change means any further 870 visa applicants must have held any previous 870 visas for collectively less than 10 years. This corrects the mischief that a person could apply for a further 870 visa if they had held this visa for exactly 10 years.