Agriculture visa: Migrant farm workers to be offered permanent residency

Farmers battling labour shortages are breathing easier thanks to the newly-announced agriculture visa. Here is what we know.

A worker harvest Asian vegetables on a farm at Kemps Creek in Sydney’s west.

Farmers across Australia are breathing sighs of relief following news a new agricultural work visa will be available from the end of September.

The Federal Government today announced the new visa will be open for workers in all agricultural sectors and skill levels, and could lead to permanent residency for visaholders.

But exact details of how the visa will work, when the first workers will arrive, and what worker protections will be in place, are yet to be revealed, with the Government now promising to undertake a period of industry consultation ahead of the September 30 start date.

Regardless, the news has been welcomed by farming groups, who began pushing for an agriculture-specific visa more than four years ago in the face of rising workforce shortages. Those shortages have escalated in the past 18 months, as Covid-19 travel bans have limited the number of foreign workers able to enter Australia.

“The start date is extremely good news for farmers across the nation who are right now struggling to know how they will harvest, pick and pack this year’s crop,” National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson said in a statement.

“A bespoke ag visa, tailored to meet the labour requirements of farmers, will allow family farmers, which make up the lion’s share of Australian agriculture, to recruit the workers with the skills they need, for the time they need them.”

The Government unexpectedly confirmed in June it would introduce an ag visa for the United Kingdom and the 10 ASEAN countries, after Australia agreed to scrap the requirement for UK backpackers to complete 88 days of farm work to extend their visas — a move that would further exacerbate the shortage of farm workers.

At that time, indications were for a three-year visa, with visa-holders working in agriculture for up to nine months each year and having to return home for the other three.

Today, it was confirmed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade — which also runs the existing Pacific Labour worker schemes — would run the new program.

While regulations to create the visa will be in place by the end of September, the actual availability of the visa will depend on negotiations with partner countries, which will be through bilateral agreements.

Full development and implementation of the visa will take place over three years, including permanent residency and regional settlement pathways.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the program would be demand-driven, and open to all sectors and skill levels, not just fruit-picking. Jobs would also have to be market-tested, so Australians get first dibs.

“This is the biggest structural change to agricultural labour in our nation’s history,” Mr Littleproud said.

“We’re also bringing in the next generation of migrants to grow regional Australia and to grow agriculture … They will be part of the long-term solution, but will be part of our communities.”

Ms Simson said the Pacific labour schemes — which is the main source of foreign labour at present — would continue to grow and were well used by larger farms, but the conditions did not suit most small farms.

The new visa would need to give workers flexibility to move between farms based on demand,” she said.

Australian Fresh Produce Alliance chair Anthony Di Pietro said it was pleasing the new visa would take into account the different needs of agricultural sectors.

“In horticulture, we have a number of short term, highly seasonal roles that often see workers move to follow work,” he said.

“This is different to other sectors, like meat processing, which may have work in the same processing facility throughout a year.”

PATHWAY TO PERMANENT RESIDENCY

Australia’s long-awaited agriculture visa will offer temporary foreign workers in the sector a pathway to permanent residency for the first time, in a significant shake-up of the nation’s ­migration program.

The specialist visa for farm workers was negotiated alongside Australia’s free-trade agreement with Britain, which ended the ­requirement for British backpackers to work on farms for 88 days if they wanted to stay in Australia for two years, The Australian reports. The Nationals’ support for the deal was contingent on the federal government creating a visa to tackle chronic workforce shortages that would be exacerbated by scrapping the requirement.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said the visa would create a “huge structural shift” in the sector’s workforce that would boost investment confidence.

“This is about the next generation of migrants who will build regional Australia,” he said.

“We want to build these jobs in regional Australia and build the population and capacity of regional Australia with these jobs. So the pathway to permanent residency is an exciting tool.”

Read more at The Australian.

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