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Indians dominate 457 visa |
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Contributed by Other Writer
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Tuesday, 17 March 2009 |
Pressure on Canberra from unions and recruiters over the use of the 457 visa scheme to import labour has intensified sharply after government figures showed Indian technology workers accounted for more than half the sector's annual intake last financial year.
Migration statistics provided to The Australian Financial Review by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship reveal that the total number of Indian information technology professionals granted 457 visas to work in Australia grew to 3840 for the year ended June 30, 2008, a rise of 27 per cent over the 2790 visas granted the previous year.
The steep rise in 457 visa grants to Indian IT workers dwarfs the declining or nearly static numbers of temporary technology workers coming from the next most popular destinations of Britain and the United States, which were granted 470 and 220 visas under the 457 scheme respectively.
The totals comprise the combined onshore and offshore 457 visa application grants for "computer professionals" and "applications and analyst programmers".
Migration experts and academics including Bob Kinnaird and Bob Birrell have warned previously that the 457 visa scheme contains potential for IT workers sourced from less prosperous nations to price out their local peers and negatively affect undergraduate computer related degrees if left unregulated.
The Information Technology Contracting and Recruitment Association has also been a persistent critic of what it claims are loopholes in the 457 scheme, warning that it is open to abuse by unscrupulous employers.
However, claims of hidden labour arbitraging within the 457 visa scheme, particularly within multinational software companies which retain large, highly mobile Indian workforces, have been persistently rejected by technology industry groups as unfounded.
Yesterday, the head of executive technology recruiter Alt-U and former Australian Computer Society president, Edward Mandla, claimed it was a sad reality that most 457 visa holders brought in from India were hired to undercut Australian labour costs.
"They are brought in by organisations on fixed-price contracts solely to make higher profits by reducing local human costs," Mr Mandla said.
He said the government should now "name the organisations bringing in 457 visa holders, the number brought in and citizenship country".
This would restore the scheme's market driven basis that previously saw it operate well, he said.
A spokesman for Immigration Minister Chris Evans said that the government had brought in new laws late last year, including the Worker Protection Act, which allows the government to cross- check minimum salary levels paid to 457 visa workers with their actual remuneration through the Australian Taxation Office.
If evidence of technology employers rorting the 457 visa scheme was provided to the government, these would be properly investigated, the spokesman said.
First published in the Australian Financial Review on March 17, 2009. Article by Julian Bajkowski
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