457 visa changes mean advertising for a local hire on Facebook is enough

Changes to the rules governing 457 visas, which come into effect this week, mean posting an advertisement on Facebook will be enough for employers to prove they have tested the labour market for local workers.

The move is part of a raft of legislation changes to 457 visas passed in June, which include that employers must prove they searched for a local hire before lodging an application for a skilled overseas worker.

The Department of Immigration says this requirement is being introduced so 457 workers are only used to alleviate “genuine skill shortages”.

According to a question and answer document released by the department to assist employers with the changes, advertising on social media is an acceptable way to find a suitably qualified Australian citizen or permanent resident for an available position.

“Use of social media to advertise a vacant position(s) is acceptable. As with all other forms of advertising or recruitment efforts, you will need to provide information about the process you undertook and the results the advertising produced,” it said.

The document also says advertising on the company’s website is also allowed and that paid advertising will not be viewed more favourably than free advertising by the department.

However, partner and migration expert at TressCox Lawyers, Rachel Drew, says while this task may sound simple, the changes are unlikely to benefit employers due to “a very strict range of criteria” when processing 457 visa applications.

“It is likely that employers are going to need a greater lead time in an application,” she says. “They are also going to have to spend a greater amount on advertising. There is no specific amount of time they have to run the advertisements, but it certainly means another step and a delay of at least some weeks.”

Other strict criteria relate to the person’s qualifications as well as their health and general character. Businesses are obliged to keep records of training, as well as making sure 457 workers are being paid at the same rate as other workers in the same industry. These guidelines aim to ensure 457 workers are not being exploited.

However, Drew thinks the amount of red tape is getting out of hand.

“I don’t agree that there needs to be more record keeping on the part of employers. They have a lot of obligations that are owed to the department,” she says.

The changes will come into effect on November 23 after the Labor government passed the amendments in June.

Last month, the new Minister for Immigration, Scott Morrison, called the changes “heavy handed regulation and red tape”.