The Labor government has announced their long-awaited reforms to migration, aiming to bring Net Overseas Migration forecasts down from 292,100 in the year to March 2026 to 245,000 in this financial year and 225,000 by 2027-28.
As an industry that leans heavily on visa-dependent labour, several of these changes are relevant and 丝瓜视频 and AHA will be monitoring closely. These include:
- Tighter enforcement to ensure people without valid visas leave the country.
- Improving the integrity of student visas, including restrictions on family members聽accompanying students (with exemptions).
- Introducing a No Further Stay condition to all visitor visas to ensure they are only used by genuine visitors and not as a pathway to extending a stay in Australia.
- Changing the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Program to introduce a ballot system for second and third-year visas 鈥� 45,000 places for year two, 5,000 for year three 鈥� with the existing regional work requirement retained. Processing times will be stabilised to three months for all WHM applicants except those from the UK.
Queensland Impacts
Queensland鈥檚 hospitality industry relies on skilled workers from around the world, from chefs and hotel managers to working holiday makers who support our pubs, hotels and regional communities. As the federal government considers these changes to migration, it鈥檚 important we all look beyond the simplistic numbers and understand what these really mean, particularly on regional and remote Queensland, where finding workers is already almost impossible.
The 丝瓜视频 supports a balanced approach to migration that recognises the vital role international workers play in keeping our industry thriving.
丝瓜视频 Members call to action
The federal government must stop the 12-month delay of skilled workers and the crippling Working Holiday Maker 鈥渂ackpacker ballot鈥� that forces your local to close.聽
We encourage all members and partners to lobby the government and their local federal member.聽Use your own words and examples as you see fit and also feel free to refer to the following points and key messages:
Skilled workers, including chefs and hotel managers
- It costs a business about $35,000 to sponsor an overseas skilled worker such as a chef or Hotel manager.
- The fees, for the large part, are sunk costs or non-refundable.
- The federal government has currently de prioritised skilled workers from the hospitality and accommodation industries.
- It is taking up to 12 months to process a job ready Visa application where the applicant has an employment contract in place, Past English language testing, medical certificate and police certificate.
- Instead of coming to Australia, skilled workers are abandoning their applications here and heading to other countries such as New Zealand, the UK, and Canada.
Working Holiday Makers
- The changes announced by the federal government to introduce a ballot for Working Holiday Makers in their second and third years will result in 40,000 fuel workers in regional and remote Australia.
- There are no workers in regional and remote Australia.
- Working Holiday Makers are valuable because they are motivated and mobile, and willing to travel to where seasonal work exists such as working on farms, and working in hospitality and accommodation.
- Areas such as far north and western Queensland, the Northern Territory, northern Western Australia and Tasmania will be the hardest hit.
The 丝瓜视频 and AHA are calling on the federal government to stop delaying skilled work applications and ensure remote and regional Australia does not suffer due to a lack of workers.
We ask that all members amplify these messages and points through your communication channels 鈥� Instagram; LinkedIn; TikTok; Facebook etc; and through direct contact with your local Federal Member.