Dear Sir, In relation to your discussion paper (above) the following comments are offered on behalf of the Motor Trade association of SA Inc., a federally registered employer organisation representing approximately 1100 automotive businesses in SA. Whilst attempts to contact the Dept. of Immigration and Border Protection by phone were unsuccessful, it is hoped our specific concerns will be considered along with the other interested stakeholders. The key issues raised on page 5 of this discussion paper –were stated in 3 questions. Please see our replies below. “Request for input At this early stage of the review, the department is seeking general input from stakeholders on elements raised within this discussion paper. Questions have been developed to focus input and assist the department in analysing views of a range of stakeholders.” Stakeholders are encouraged to provide input to the following points where applicable”: Question 1. Are there any specific aspects of the programmes or the processes that could be simplified? MTA answer:a) Yes, for small business there are issues of determining whether there are appropriate methods for assessing suitable transferrable skills particularly for trade level skill migrants from non-European migrants b) Assessment criteria should be clear, developed in concert with each Skills Council (e.g. Auto Skills Australia). Then the assessment process should be completed prior to leaving the country of origin, any skills gaps identified, an assessment of whether such skills gaps can be rectified in a reasonable time, and appropriate training program signed off prior to migration. Such program to be completed prior to placement unless Host business has capacity to do so. c) Red Tape delays seem to be prevalent between processing applications at State Migration Authorities which then have to be vetted via Federal Authorities. Some form of checklist should be achievable at the State level to minimise this delay in finalising applications. d) The other issue is that where there are skills gaps identified under temporary visa arrangements, rather than returning to the country of origin, astute migrants seem to go underground, seeking further work and joining like support groups to beat the system – we had experience of this up to 3 years ago – one questions such persons bona fides for the purpose behind migration and frustration of small business Question 2. Do you have skilled migration needs that are not being currently met within the existing skilled migration visa programme? MTA answer:Yes, largely among small business, due to incapacity to assess skills of persons from largely non-European Countries purporting to have equivalent tradesperson competencies and finding on arrival retraining necessary (at high cost for temporary visa holders) or incapacity to achieve standards required Question 3. To what extent should the current key visa components be incorporated into a new skilled migration visa programme? MTA answer:The financial aspect of temporary visa holders having to receive $53000(approx.) as a minimum salary is a disincentive to small business in filling gaps in regionally disadvantaged areas where the nature of the work and capacity to pay is limited. Certainly aces to permanent visa holders is available but they are nervous where skills recognition is a risk – this also causes delays in filling skills gaps and in a few cases leads to business closures where due to age/health/poaching, key staff are lost. Please consider these issues based on our experience with 457 visas particularly for our small business members. We acknowledge our larger members, especially Dealers, have the capacity and do travel to Europe in their pursuit of quality applicants – resulting in few problems foreshadowed above. Thank You Paul Eblen On behalf of Paul Unerkov, Chief Executive Officer. Paul Eblen | Industrial Relations, Health, Safety, Environment and Training C Level 1, 81 Greenhill Road, Wayville SA 5034 | GPO BOX 2204, ADELAIDE SA 5001 t 08 8291 2015 | m 0417 814 916 | f 08 8291 2099 | www.mta-sa.asn.au e [email protected] get social This e-mail is intended solely for its addressee. The contents are confidential and may be legally privileged or subject to copyright. Any unauthorized access, disclosure, use or copying is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender by return email immediately and then delete it. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the Motor Trade Association. E-mail is not secure and there is a risk messages may be corrupted in transmission. While every care is taken, it is recommended that you scan any attachments for viruses.
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