After months of debacle and the Immigration Department sitting on over 81,000 Citizenship applications without a decision since April, the Senate has finally defeated Minister Dutton’s Citizenship Bill by given the green light for applications to be processed under the current rules (for the time being). Will the bar be set too high?
Australian Citizenship Update
On 20 April 2017, the Australian Government announced it would be strengthening the integrity of Australian citizenship. The Bill was introduced into Parliament on 15 June 2017 and on 18 October 2017 amendments to the Bill were proposed by the Government.
Subject to passage of legislation, the new requirements for citizenship will come into effect on 1 July 2018 and will include:
- General Residence requirement: Applicants must have a minimum of four years permanent residence prior to their application for citizenship with no more than one year spent outside Australia during that period;
- English Language Test: Applicants will need to complete an English language test to demonstrate English language listening, speaking, reading and writing skills at a ‘modest’ level;
- Strengthening the Australian values statement: Applicants will be required to include reference to allegiance to Australia and a commitment to integrate into and contribute to the Australian community;
- Strengthening the Australian citizenship test: Additional test questions about Australian values and the privileges and responsibilities of Australian citizenship will be introduced;
- Requirement to demonstrate integration into the Australian community
- Strengthening the pledge of allegiance to Australia: The requirement to pledge will be extended to applicants aged 16 years and over for all streams of citizenship.
How does this affect me?
- If you have already applied for Australian Citizenship before, on or after 20 April 2017
- your application will be assessed against the eligibility criteria in place when you applied.
- If your application has not yet been finalised, the Department will write to you when it reaches the next stage of processing or if they require any further information or documents.
- If you apply before 1 July 2018 (subject to the passage of legislation), your application will be assessed against the current eligibility criteria.
- If you apply on or after 1 July 2018 (subject to the passage of legislation), your application will be assessed against the new requirements.
We are monitoring changes as they are released and will update you as information becomes available.
Training Benchmark Update | Skilling Australians Fund
From March 2018, the existing training benchmarks for employers will be replaced by the Skilling Australians Fund which will require payment of a training levy. The fund will be used to meet future skills and needs of Australians with a focus on apprentices and trainees.
The Skilling Australian fund will replace the existing training benchmarks for employers using the 457 and Employer Nomination (ENS) programs. The process will streamline the training requirements for employers to be compliant, however, it will significantly increase the upfront costs to employers.
The payments will apply to both Temporary Skills Shortages (TSS) visas and to permanent employer sponsored visas (ENS & RSMS). The amount payable will depend on the turnover of the business.
- Businesses with turnover of less than $10 million per year will be required to:
- make an upfront payment of $1,200 per visa per year for each employee on a TSS visa;
- a one-off payment of $3,000 for each employee being sponsored for a permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa or a permanent Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa.
- Businesses with turnover of $10 million or more per year will be required to:
- make an upfront payment of $1,800 per visa year for each employee on a TSS visa
- a one-off payment of $5,000 for each employee being sponsored for a permanent Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) visa or a permanent Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (subclass 187) visa.
What does this mean for my business?
Example 1 – Small businesses with turnover of less than $10 million per year
If the business sponsors approximately:
- 4 x temporary 4-year visas, and
- 2 x permanent residency visas per year.
From March 2018, the average costs which will need to be spent on the training benchmark for these visas will be:
TSS 4 visas x $1,200 = $ 4,800
PR 2 visas x $3,000 = $ 6,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL PER YEAR = $10,800
The TSS visa training costs accumulates year by year, and therefore the costs will be much higher on the 4th year, however the costs for year 5 onwards should remain the same on the basis that same number of visas are submitted to the immigration department per year. Below is a table based on the average number of temporary and permanent visas per year (4 x TSS and 2 x PR)**:
**please note that the levies can change from year to year in accordance with the legislation
Example 2 – Large businesses with turnover of more than $10 million per year
If the business sponsors approximately:
- 30 x temporary 4-year visas, and
- 10 x permanent residency visas per year.
From March 2018, the average costs which will need to be spent on the training benchmark for these visas will be:
TSS 30 visas x $1,800 = $54,000
PR 6 visas x $5,000 = $30,000
ESTIMATED TOTAL PER YEAR = $84,000
The TSS visa training costs accumulates year by year, and therefore the costs will be much higher on the 4th year, however the costs for year 5 onwards should remain the same on the basis that same number of visas are submitted to the immigration department per year. Below is a table based on the average number of temporary and permanent visas per year (30 x TSS and 6 x PR)**:
**please note that the levies can change from year to year in accordance with the legislation
Currently, to meet the training benchmark a business must have:
- committed to investing 2% of payroll in an industry training fund (Benchmark A); or
- invested in training Australian citizen and permanent resident employees in accord with statutory training benchmarks currently set at 1% of the payroll (Benchmark B).
This is a good time to look at the business’ budget for the year to ensure that it can comply with the new training levy. On the bright side, we have noticed that businesses will be spending substantially less on this training levy compared the amount required to meet the Benchmark A or B.
Key take aways
- If you are eligible for Australian Citizenship now, don’t wait. From 1 July next year, you will need to wait an additional 3 years as a permanent resident to be eligible for Australian Citizenship.
- Budget for your business before the new training levies come into place next year.
Any questions?
Naturally if you have any questions or would like to discuss how these changes may affect you or your business, please do not hesitate to contact our office.
