Call to ease foreign student work visa limits

International students should be able to work unlimited hours and foreign backpackers continue with the same boss for more than six months under a temporary easing of visa restrictions being sought by employers.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry acting chief executive Jenny Lambert. Picture: AAP

International students should be able to work unlimited hours and foreign backpackers continue with the same boss for more than six months under a temporary easing of visa restrictions being sought by employers to address COVID-driven labour shortages until overseas travel resumes.

National business groups urged the Morrison government to temporarily remove the cap on international students working more than 40 hours a fortnight and allow unrestricted hours in targeted regions and industries including hospitality, accommodation, cafes and restaurants that are facing shortages.

Employers also called on the government to expand the priority migration skilled occupation list to include chefs, veterinarians, cafe and restaurant managers and seafarers.

While supporting prioritisation of Australians returning home, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said action was needed to facilitate the arrival of more international students and working holiday-makers from low-COVID-risk countries who have been fully vaccinated.

Acting ACCI chief executive Jenny Lambert said skills and labour shortages across Australia were severely impacting business recovery from the pandemic.

“It is a matter of survival for businesses in the accommodation, hospitality, cafes and restaurants sectors to access skilled migration,” she said. “But there is also a critical need for more professionals such as structural and civil engineers, surveyors and veterinarians in order for businesses to grow.

“Regional communities are intensively feeling the loss of migrants, not just for skilled workers, but for people to fill seasonal jobs in agriculture and hospitality where working holiday-makers traditionally filled the gaps.

“Farmers are letting fresh produce rot, and local businesses are either not opening some days, or closing off rooms as they simply do not have the staff to service customers.”

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said he would “strongly urge the government to take a fresh look at the working rights of all current on-shore visa holders” to help the many businesses struggling to find labour. “Given that we are unlikely to see significant migration — either permanent or temporary — for the next year at least, it is important that Australia makes best use of all our assets we already have here,” he told The Australian.

“Visa holders are more flexible in where they are willing to travel for work and pockets of shortages persist across the country, despite current unemployment levels.

“Visa holders are a large pool of COVID-safe workers but many have restrictions ... Given many businesses are crying out for workers, visa holders should not be limited by visa work conditions.”

Employers want the government to expand the Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List, which currently identifies 18 occupations that fill critical skills needs to support Australia’s economic recovery from COVID-19.

Ms Lambert backed a Senate inquiry recommendation that the Department of Home Affairs consider adding a range of occupations, including civil engineers, electrical engineers, motor mechanics, cooks, carpenters, electricians and other roles in the hospitality, health, trades, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

The Electrical Trades Union has slammed the inquiry proposals, accusing the government of wanting to destroy Australian jobs by using COVID-19 as a cover to open the floodgates on skilled migration.

ETU national secretary Allen Hicks said thousands of Australians were still stranded overseas, but the government was “considering putting them at the end of the queue behind foreign workers who can be easily exploited”. “This is an attack on Australian values. It is a disgrace,” he said.

A student visa currently allows the holder to work up to 40 hours per fortnight once their program is in session, and unrestricted hours when the program is not in session.

Under the ACCI proposal, the cap would be removed temporarily, allowing the visa holder to work unrestricted hours when in session, targeted to specific regions/industries such as cafes, restaurants, hospitality and accommodation that are currently facing shortages

In its Senate submission, the ACCI identified skills shortages across a number of sectors including an extreme shortage of skilled motor mechanics.

Reasons cited included the growing number of vehicles on the road; a sharp decline in the supply of local apprentice motor mechanics; rapidly emerging new technologies in electric and hybrid vehicles leaving a major skills gap for suitably trained motor mechanics, and a massive uptake of second-hand vehicles by consumers during the pandemic that required repairs and maintenance.