The Australian Government has announced that Australia’s temporary migration program will introduce the practice of Enterprise Migration Agreements (EMAs), in a bid to address the skills shortage in Australia’s resource sector.

Through the use of Enterprise Migration Agreements, major Australian resource projects will be able to quickly secure overseas workers to fill temporary positions of employment where it can be shown that local labour sources are insufficient to fill those vacancies.

He said that over the next three to four years, many large scale construction projects currently underway in Australia will require peak workforce numbers, and will therefore need to access overseas labour markets in order to meet economic and timeframe obligations.

The introduction of Enterprise Migration Agreements comes after extensive consultation between the Australian Government and Australian Industry employers, and on the back of recommendations made by the National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce given to the Government in July 2010.

How will Enterprise Migration Agreements work?

An Enterprise Migration Agreement will be custom designed for the particular resource project it is related to, and will effectively be a ‘labour agreement’ between the Government and the Australian project owner concerned.

Enterprise Migration Agreements have been designed to allow project owners to plan their workforce from the beginning of the project.

An Enterprise Migration Agreement will cover the entire project and will set up the terms by which overseas workers may be employed for that particular project. For example, an Enterprise Migration Agreement would outline factors such as;

• the roles which may be filled by overseas workers,
• the acceptable qualification levels for such roles,
• the training conditions which must be met in order to fill those roles,
• the English language skill level which must be met by overseas workers,
• the wages and conditions under which overseas workers may be employed for that project.

Once an Enterprise Migration Agreement is established for a particular project, all sub-contract employers who will participate in that project will sign labour agreements with the Enterprise Migration Agreement holder, which will fall under the terms of the Enterprise Migration Agreements for that project. This means that the ultimate responsibility for any overseas worker employed for that project will rest with their direct employer rather than the overall project owner.

Who will be eligible for an Enterprise Migration Agreement?

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) will only approve an Enterprise Migration Agreement  where it can be demonstrated that the project will invest in the training and up-skilling of Australians to meet future skills needs, and where it can be demonstrated the project has invested in local recruitment efforts which are ongoing.

DIAC advises that the conditions and requirements of an Enterprise Migration Agreement means that only a limited number of Australian resource projects will be eligible for the new scheme. Thus any other migration arrangement which exists in Australia’s temporary migration program (such as the five day processing for 457 visa applications which are decision ready), will still be available to all Australian resource projects, including projects that do not meet Enterprise Migration Agreement requirements.

Procedures of an Enterprise Migration Agreement

All overseas workers who are sponsored by Australian employers under an Enterprise Migration Agreement will hold a 457 visa and will fall under the Worker Protection Act 2009.

Any overseas worker employed under an Enterprise Migration Agreement will need to demonstrate proficiency in the English language, as well as show evidence that they possess the skills and/or qualifications needed to undertake their occupation in Australia.

Any Australian employer who does not comply with their sponsorship obligations will be subject to penalties imposed by DIAC, including a possible bar on sponsoring any further overseas workers to Australia, or even the suspension or cancelation of the Enterprise Migration Agreement and any labour agreements associated with it.