DAMAs for Townville and East Kimberley; WHM age cap increases for Italians and Danes, Mongolia and Brazil added, India to come
/With a barrage of media releases at the end of last week, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs made multiple announcements including two new DAMAs, enhancements to two existing DAMAs and benefits to the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program. The likely reason for dropping so many changes is the looming federal election and the convention to not make major policy decisions during caretaker mode, the period between when parliament is dissolved and elected minister take charge of their portfolio.
DAMAs for Townsville and East Kimberley, updates to Far North Queensland and Orana
The number of Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs) will enter the double digits (eleven) as DAMAs were confirmed for Townsville in Queensland and East Kimberley in Western Australia. DAMAs come under the subclass 482 - Temporary Skill Shortage, and subclass 494 – Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) visa program. They are a type of labour agreement negotiated between state and local governments and the Department of Home Affairs that provide local businesses with access to a pre-determined occupation list generally not covered under the standard business sponsor regime and/or with concessions for age and English.
The East Kimberley DAMA will have access to 66 occupations stacked with resource engineering and trade occupations as well as aged and child care and health services. There will be “significant” concessions and permanent residence pathways. Local business will be able to apply to the East Kimberley Chamber of Commerce and Industry from 9 May 2022.
The Townsville DAMA, which will commence from 1 July 2022, will list a 195 occupations covering a range of industries.
Townsville’s closest DAMA neighbour, the Far North Queensland DAMA, will be varied to ensure it is fit for purpose by updating the list of approved occupations. Expect to see hospitality occupations featured heavily.
The Orana DAMA will also see revisions including increasing the number of occupation available to 65 with aged care and health professionals to feature heavily.
WHM age cap increases to 35 for Italy and Denmark from 1 July 2022: Mongolia and Brazil added, India to come
The push to get more young internationals to visit Australia continues. From 1 July 2022 the age cap for Italian and Danish citizens will increase from 30 to the maximum 35 years for access to the subclass 417 – Working Holiday visa. They will join Canada, France and Ireland in the “35-year” club.
An agreement will allow up to 500 Brazilians a year access to the subclass 462 – Work and Holiday visa program. Brazilians have steadily increased their presence in Australia over the last 20 years and was the fifth-largest source of international students prior to the pandemic. Mongolia will also be added with 100 places.
There is no information yet on the minimum education requirements for Brazil or Mongolia or whether government support will be required, however, given the small number of places relative to other countries and their populations, the need for government support is expected.
It has been reported that up to 1000 Indians will have access to the 462 visa soon as an interim Australia-India Free Trade Agreement was signed over the weekend. This agreement will also add India to the list of countries whose nationals are exempt from labour market testing for 482 visa nominations.
Lastly, for all WHMs, paid and unpaid flood recovery work in certain areas will count towards specified work for a second or third WHM visa. The instrument has yet to be amended with relevant dates and locations.