Visa win for tourism and hospitality sector

Foreign students will be able to pick up more hours working in cafes, restaurants and across tourism businesses as the Morrison government relaxes visa restrictions.

The 40-hour cap on student visa holders will be removed for the hospitality and tourism sectors.

Foreign students will be able to pick up more hours working in cafes, restaurants and across tourism businesses as the Morrison government relaxes visa restrictions to try to fix critical labour shortages.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke will on Saturday announce that the 40-hour fortnightly cap on student visa holders will be removed for the hospitality and tourism sectors.

Temporary visa holders employed in those industries will also be able to access a special COVID-19 pandemic visa for a year, allowing them to stay in the country longer.

The move comes after the struggling hospitality and accommodation industries nominated labour shortages of 30 per cent or more as the biggest barrier to their revival.

Peak industry groups have warned for months that as parts of the economy pick up they have been unable to find the necessary workforce, forcing some businesses to reduce opening hours or close altogether.

“Tourism and hospitality employs more than half a million Australians and these changes will allow them to supplement their existing workforce to keep their businesses running, in addition to generating employment through a job multiplier effect,” Mr Hawke said.

“Temporary visa holders working in, or intending to work in, tourism and hospitality will be able to apply for the 408 COVID-19 visa up to 90 days ­before their existing visa expires and then remain in Australia for up to 12 additional months.”

Tourism and Transport Forum chief executive Margy ­Osmond said a lack of skilled workers had hobbled the tourism sector and some businesses, particularly in CBDs, were unable to operate at full capacity due to the shortages.

“A lot of the major capital city hotels, even on weekends now, they are having to cap the number of bookings they take because they don’t have enough skilled people. This skills issue is going to continue to be worse and worse,” she said.

Ms Osmond had urged the government to overhaul skilled migration visas to bring extra workers into the sector.

Executive director of the Australian Tourism Industry Council, Simon Westaway, also argued that skills shortages remained an “ongoing issue”.

“It’s been a very disrupted sector,” he said. “Labour force data has shown hospitality, accommodation and tourism was the hardest hit in terms of employment and job losses over the high point of the pandemic’s impact.

“To attract former staffer back and refill those roles remains a key challenge for industry.”

Mr Hawke has also added veterinarians to the priority skilled migration occupation list to fill critical skills to support the country’s economic recovery from the pandemic.

“I am continuing to take feedback and advice from a range of sectors and will make further announcements on temporary visa flexibility measures and priority skills in the future,” he said.