In September 2017, it was announced by the Department of Employment (DoE) that it was assuming responsibility for reviewing which occupations should be included in the skilled migration occupation lists, ie. the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) and the Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL). Previously the review was done by the Department of Education and Training (for the MLTSSL) and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) (for the STSOL). DIBP still has the final say on the composition of both lists.
DoE commenced with a public consultation period on the draft of the methodology it would use to determine the composition of the lists. It proposed that there should be primary and secondary labour market factors which should be taken into account. Incredibly, DoE omitted from its analysis important, statistically valid data such as the number of permanent visas previously awarded for individual occupations. In engineering, this has been a major factor contributing to the oversupply. DoE’s proposed methodology can be viewed here: https://docs.jobs.gov.au/documents/skilled-migration-occupation-lists-proposed-methodology The submission by the author of this website about the shortcomings of the methodology can be viewed here: https://docs.jobs.gov.au/0007-jim-oakley In November 2017 the DoE issued a ‘traffic light bulletin’ indicating its recommendations for the occupations to be included on both skilled migration occupation lists. Submissions were sought from stakeholders and the general public on the recommendations. No engineering occupations were recommended to be placed on the STSOL, but all engineering occupations were recommended to remain on the MLTSSL. The DoE stated that: “There were substantial changes to the skilled migration occupation lists in April and July 2017. Therefore, the Government has prioritised continuity and stability. For this reason, no changes have been proposed for the medium and long-term strategic skills list at this time”. For engineering occupations in ANZSCO Minor Group ‘233 Engineering Professionals’, there were no substantial changes during 2017. Nearly all engineering occupations have remained continuously on the MLTSSL and its predecessor the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) for years, and this has been the primary cause of the massive oversupply of the engineering labour market since 2012-13. The final lists will be legislated by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) in January 2018. The DoE’s traffic light bulletin can be viewed here: https://docs.jobs.gov.au/documents/traffic-light-bulletin The submission by the author of this website can be viewed on the ‘Submissions’ page of this website. http://engineeroversupply.weebly.com/submissions.html and on the website of the Department of Jobs and Small Business: docs.jobs.gov.au/0423-jim-oakley Note: In December 2017, DoE changed its name to the Department of Jobs and Small Business. DIBP was absorbed into the larger Home Affairs department in the same month. As reported in the News post dated 6th August 2017, at the beginning of July six of the most heavily oversupplied engineering occupations were removed by the Government from the list of occupations requiring market testing before a for 457 visa can be granted to a migrant. The occupations were:
233111 Chemical engineer 233112 Materials engineer 233411 Electronics engineer 233511 Industrial engineer 233513 Production or plant engineer 233612 Petroleum engineer. For these occupations, this meant that employers did not have to advertise jobs in the general market; rather, they could employ migrant engineers directly. Following complaints by the author of this website to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP), the six engineering occupations were returned to the list in November 2017. Now 20 of 21 engineering occupations require market testing before a 457 visa can be granted. The exception is 233213 Quantity surveyor. See: www.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/Pages/general-guide-to-457-programme-occupations-which-are-not-exempt-from-labour-market-testing.aspx |
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November 2018
CategoriesAuthorJim Oakley |