Colin Barnett, the West Australian Premier, believes that the English Language Test requirements for the temporary employer-sponsored 457 Australian working visa should be ‘relaxed’ so that Western Australia (WA) could recruit more skilled labour to address what he sees as a ‘looming skills shortage’ crisis.

Barnett told ABC radio, “Why not relax the rules, why not allow more people to come in, let them get jobs, work in Australia, become Australians?”

Premiere Barnett stated that Western Australia attracted about 20% of Australia’s immigrants, and that people who migrated to Australia were more likely to adapt quickly and pick up English easier if they were working.

Western Australia’s Training and Workforce Development Minister, Mr Peter Collier, said that the data collected by his department indicated that WA was likely to face a shortage of approximately 150,000 skilled workers by the year 2017, due to sustained growth and the mining boom in WA.

Collier agreed with Barnett that Australia needed to exercise great flexibility with the issuing of temporary visas, and that a review of the current International English Language Testing System (IELTS) was indeed warranted.

Minister Collier has recently met with Immigration Minister Chris Bowen and Workplace Relations Minister Chris Evans, to discuss these issues as they relate to the current and future skills needs of Western Australia.

The Ministers meeting also considered the possibility of expanding the scope of skilled occupations which qualify for a 457 employer-sponsored temporary working visa, as well as ways in which the labour capacities of persons holding a temporary Australian visa as students or working holiday makers could be better utilised.  

It remains unclear at this stage what actions will be taken by Australian Immigration authorities to address these issues.

It seems likely however that the procedures of current immigration practice in Australia will undergo change over the next few months, with Immigration Minister Chris Bowen stating in his address to Immigration Lawyers of the Law Council of Australia last week that important reviews of the efficiency of Australia’s current system are underway.