News site of the year

Federal Politics
  1. Home
  2. Politics
  3. News
EXCLUSIVE
Save
Print
License article

'A new frontier': The little-known alternative to the 457 foreign worker visa

359 reading now

A little-known visa category has become a "new frontier for unscrupulous employers" looking to exploit cheap foreign labour at the expense of Australian workers. 

The 400 visa, designed to parachute international specialists into short-term roles, has emerged as a "sleeper" category with looser restrictions than the 457 foreign worker visa, which was recently abolished by the Turnbull government in a high-profile "Australians first" crackdown.

Up Next

Central banks enter the fray

null
Video duration
02:56

More BusinessDay Videos

null
Video duration
01:30

457 visas: PM's Australia-first rhetoric
null
Video duration
02:56

Central banks enter the fray
null
Video duration
00:43

ASX winners and losers - a snapshot
null
Video duration
01:00

Outlook for 2018 global economy
null
Video duration
01:40

Star Wars Force Friday II begins in Sydney
null
Video duration
01:14

Meet Aida, the AI banker
null
Video duration
01:07

Is your sushi made by a robot?
More videos

457 visas: PM's Australia-first rhetoric

The decision to abolish 457 temporary work visas is presented by Malcolm Turnbull as putting the interests of Australians first.

In the past decade, hundreds of thousands of workers have been employed on short stay visa categories, including the 400's predecessor the 456, with at least 11 cases before the Fair Work Ombudsman. But experts warn despite the examples of exploitation, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection has little detail on the employment of these workers.

Among them, Chinese labourers flown in to dismantle the former Mitsubishi car plant in the Adelaide Hills paid $1.90 an hour, Filipino metal fabricators paid $4.90 an hour to install animal feed mills in NSW, and nine Indonesian timber workers flown into Tasmania and promised bonuses when they returned home.

"The fact that a couple of exploitation cases exist really shows that there is a real opportunity for this visa to be exploited," said Joanna Howe, an associate Professor in Law at the University of Adelaide.

"They have no local or community networks, they have very little English, it's very difficult for them to even know that the fair work ombudsman exists."

Advertisement

Documents seen by Fairfax Media show 400 visas are sometimes approved within 24 hours with seemingly minimal oversight. Despite the government's requirement that the work be "highly specialised", the visa has been used to fill semi-skilled positions for which apparently qualified Australian applicants were available.

In 2015, Australia hosted the Cricket World Cup but local camera crews with decades of broadcasting experience were snubbed by the International Cricket Council for a crew from Singapore. In the same year the Spirit of Tasmania employed 44 per cent of its workers on 400 visas for a $31.5 million refurbishment.

In several cases, multinational shipping companies are employing overseas engineers on 400 visas for Australian work despite the availability, according to the union, of local specialists searching for employment and being knocked back when they apply.

The revelations appear to challenge the department's eligibility criteria, which say the visa "encapsulates highly specialised skills, knowledge or experience that can assist Australian business and cannot reasonably be found in the Australian labour market".

The sleeper category

The subclass 400 visa was introduced by the former Labor government in early 2013, superseding two previous visa categories. In 2013-14, the visa's first full year of operation, 40,000 were granted. It peaked at 55,000 in 2015-16.

PricewaterhouseCoopers immigration partner Carter Bovard said the 400 series provided organisations with a tool to fill gaps where the talent has not been found in the local market.

"Australian companies have become more global and have required more skills from overseas," he said. "A lot of them need growth opportunities in the Asia Pacific."

Dr Chris F Wright, a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School said he could see the visa servicing the needs of particular businesses.

"If they want to transfer people internally from New York or Shanghai into the Sydney office of a multinational, but that would apply to relatively few organisations," he said.

The number of 400 visas approved now equals half the number of 457 visas handed out when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull axed the category in April over concerns foreigners were taking Australian jobs.

"We know a lot about the 457," said Dr Wright. "There is evidence about where they worked and for how long.

"For the 400 there is not much information at all. It's a sleeper visa category not much attention has been paid to it."

Dr Howe said the lack of transparency meant it was easier to use the 400 than the 457 "for any unscrupulous employer that wants to subvert Australian law, that wants to use a migrant workforce because they aren't unionised and less likely to complain".

In January, a Freedom of Information request from Dr Howe and colleague Irene Nikoloudakis showed the Department had "no documents" referring to the number of visa holders by occupation.

Fairfax Media has found up to half of 46,000 400 visas in 2016-17 and for each of the five years the category has existed have been granted to workers in "not specified" or "other services" categories, according to official figures released for the first time.

Following that, the largest categories were "professional, scientific and technical", "arts and recreation services" and "information media and telecommunications".

Among the hardest hit, unions claim, are maritime industries. In shipping, industrial disputes and accusations of exploitation have been prevalent for years, with foreign workers on two WA rigs in 2008 and 2011 paid as little as $US3-$US8 an hour.

The Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers says several ships operating in Australian waters are currently using workers on subclass 400 visas when they shouldn't be. There are at least 70 qualified Australians ready to work, according to the union.

'Handed out like lollies'

Based in Perth, marine engineer Mark Jones has been unemployed for 18 months. He has been in the industry for 35 years and says he has never struggled to find work before.

"I have applied for over 60 positions in the last 18 months. Often they are through internet advertising and very rarely do I even get a reply," Mr Jones, 60, told Fairfax Media. "They are sometimes saying it's because there are so many people applying. But if that's the case, if there are so many people applying, why are they being filled by subclass 400 visa holders?"

Mr Jones said many of his former colleagues had now left the industry altogether after struggling to find work.

AIMPE says positions that were previously being filled by 457 visa holders are now being filled by 400 visa holders, accusing multiple companies of abusing the category.

According to the union, RN Dredging, a Danish company, is operating a vessel on the Gold Coast with three Danish engineers. The union has written to Immigration Minister Peter Dutton saying dozens of qualified locals are available and the visas were sought with "incorrect information".

RN Dredging rejects this, with a spokesman telling Fairfax Media the company boosted the size of the crew – adding nine Australians to the eight foreign workers – "to ensure that no one would be to able say that we abuse the visa system".

AIMPE has also asked Mr Dutton to cancel subclass 400 visas held by workers on the POSH Arcadia, a vessel being operated off Western Australia by Singaporean company PACC Offshore Services Holdings. The union claims at least 31 foreign citizens are working in positions that could be filled by locals.

A spokeswoman for POSH told Fairfax Media the company employs Australians "wherever possible where they possess the necessary skills, competency and experience", saying there was a mix of local and international workers in its current operations.

When the company cannot find appropriate Australians, the spokesman said it provides pathways to employment for locals, including first-hand experience, to bring skills up to the necessary level.

Labor MP Julian Hill said temporary skilled visas "should only be available when there's a genuine skills gap that Australian workers can't fill" and accused the Immigration Minister of instituting a "fake" crackdown.

"It appears that some employers are still finding ways to bypass the new skills shortage lists and avoid labour market testing," Mr Hill said. "Reports that 400 visas are being handed out like lollies by Peter Dutton's department are disturbing."

A spokesman for the Immigration Minister said 400 visa decisions were made "only after full and careful consideration of all relevant information" and the government was "cleaning up Labor's mess".

"The government is committed to ensuring that Australian workers have priority and that foreign workers are a supplement to, and not a substitute for, Australian workers," the spokesman said.

"Labor mismanaged Australia's work visa programs, just like they mismanaged Australia's borders."

In July, the government announced a review of the visa system with a view to simplifying it. The review – which has sought input from the public – includes consideration of the "role and future requirements" of the 400 visa.

More Articles