Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls victory leads to the resignation of Peter Dutton.

In a Liberal party room meeting, Peter Dutton challenged Malcolm Turnbull for the Liberal party leadership, losing 48-35 after the prime minister called a spill. Peter Dutton has resigned from his Cabinet position, and will now sit on the backbench.

"He said to me he doesn't feel he can remain in the Cabinet having challenged me for the leadership of the party, and so he is resigning." – Mr. Turnbull on Mr. Duttons resignation.

Treasurer Scott Morrison will serve as interim Home Affairs Minister “pending other arrangements,” Mr. Turnbull announced. Julie Bishop was also appointed the deputy position after running unopposed.

The narrow victory has left plenty of room for ongoing discussion concerning the possibility of Mr. Dutton of challenging Mr. Turnbull for Prime Minister. This morning’s vote confirms that Mr. Dutton has a significant conservative backing to replace Mr. Turnbull as PM.

We have been urged to expect more resignations, possibly form other frontbenchers, adding to the current but temporary sense of chaos within the government.

What Does This Mean for Australia’s Migrants

Prior to his resignation today, Peter Dutton was the Minister for Home Affairs and The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Mr. Dutton has been responsible for a number of changes within Australian migration since being sworn in December 2017, including the tougher vetting procedures we have seen. Click here read more about Mr. Duttons migration impact.

Responsibilities for the position of Minister for Home Affairs and The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection are not limited to but include:

• Overall strategic management of the portfolio, its agencies and budget
• Counter terrorism and organized crime strategy
• Counter espionage and foreign interference
• Migration and refugee/humanitarian programme settings
• Portfolio intelligence arrangements (Including visa risk assessment system)
• Visa cancellations for very serious offenders, national security, and exceptional cases

After winning the vote, Mr. Turnbull resigned as leader at the start of the meeting to prompt a vote to test the support of his opponent. Scott Morrison has been selected to act as interim Minister for Home Affairs and The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection in Mr. Duttons absence.

Mr. Morrison has held the role of Minister for Immigration and Border Protection having previously been appointed in 2013, where he was responsible for implementing Operation Sovereign Boarders.

Keep in mind that this may also lead to more responsibility for Alex Hawke and Alan Tudge. Mr. Hawke has served as the Assistant Minister of Home Affairs since December 2017. Mr. Tudge is the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs and has been one of the more active members within the migration sector.

Do you need help with an Australian visa application?

At Work Visa Lawyers we are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications. Our areas of expertise include Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer Sponsored Work Visas, Partner and other Family Migration visas as well as the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) Review, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention.

If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:

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Sources

We do not own the rights to the picture above.

https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about/corporate/ministers

https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/peterdutton/pages/welcome.aspx

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-21/politics-live-malcolm-turnbull-sees-off-peter-dutton-challenge/10146280

https://www.westernadvocate.com.au/story/5597429/malcolm-turnbull-wins-ballot-in-leadership-spill-julie-bishop-to-retain-deputy/

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/21/malcolm-turnbull-survives-leadership-contest-peter-dutton

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/malcolm-turnbull

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/aug/21/liberal-leadership-dutton-turnbull-energy

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-21/malcolm-turnbull-survives-leadership-challenge-from-peter-dutton/10146574

https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/who-are-the-35-people-who-turned-on-malcolm-turnbull-and-voted-for-peter-dutton/news-story/c9b94f7f10d46e8b955b157668f0650c

https://www.workvisalawyers.com.au/news/all/20-000-less-skilled-rsms-and-partner-visas-granted-due-to-new-integrity-measures-from-australian-immigration-department.html

Home Affairs has released the first SkillSelect round invitation results for the 2018-19 program year.

The invitation round to apply for the Skilled - Independent (subclass 189) and Skilled - Regional (Provisional) (subclass 489) was conducted on 11 July 2018. This month there were 1000 Independent 189 Visa invitations while only 10 Regional 489 Visa invitations sent. The total number of positions planned for the 2018-19 Skilled Independent Visa remains at 43,990.

Invitation rounds are anticipated to run on the 11th day of each month. Dates for the rounds are subject to change but expect the points to remain high at 70 points or higher within this program year.

If you are looking to apply for a TSS subclass 482 visa, subclass 457 visa, ENS subclass 186 Visa or  subclass RSMS 187 visa subclass and you have all of your documents ready to lodge the application, you can avoid the Skilling Australians Fund by lodging it on or before 11 August 2018.

If you still have advertising to complete or have too much work left to do to complete the nomination application before 12 August 2018, it is likely that you will need to pay a contribution to the Skilling Australians Fund Levy.

The Skilling Australians Fund will affect any applications lodged on or after 12 August 2018.

This is going to cause significant additional charges to employers on top of the current application charges.

As we have previously written about, the Skilling Australians Fund is a levy which will be imposed on applications to nominate a foreign worker under a subclass 482, subclass 457, subclass 186 or subclass 187 visa.

How Much Does The New Skilling Australians Fund Levy Cost?

The size of your businesses contribution to the levy will vary based on the particular application, as well as the size of the business.

If you are a small to medium business with turnover of less than $10,000,000, your contribution will be less than for a large business with yearly turnover of $10,000,000 or more.

What Exceptions Are There?

The following kinds of applications are exempted from paying the relevant contribution charge:

• Subclass 482 visas lodged under the Labour Agreement stream
• Subclass 186 visas lodged under the Labour Agreement stream
• If the nomination is for the occupation of Minister of Religion (ANZSCO: 272211) or Religious Assistant (ANZSCO: 451816)

For any of the above applications, the contribution amount is cut down to $0.

Meeting The Training Benchmarks

Any applications lodged before 12 August 2018 will still need to continue to meet their training obligations under the current scheme. If you are currently sponsoring an employee or are planning to lodge a nomination before 12 August 2018, you will need to continue to keep clear records and spend:

• Spend 1% of payroll on the training of your Australian employees, or
• Contribute 2% to a industry training fund

For nominations on or after 12 August 2018, you will no longer need to meet the training benchmarks. It is important to be careful, however, if you have a blend of pre- and post-SAF nominees. If you have an employee who is looking to use the Temporary Residence Transition stream of 186/187 for a permanent application after holding a 457/482 which was nominated pre-SAF, you will need to show at the time of application that the training benchmarks have been met for all the sponsorship years.

There may be some cases of employers with a large payroll and low utilisation of the employer-sponsored migration scheme where the replacement of the Training Benchmarks with the Skilling Australians Fund Levy will bring an advantage.

Can The Nominee / Visa Applicant Pay The Skilling Australians Fund Levy Contribution?

No. Even if they want to, the SAF Levy Contribution has been added to the list of costs which cannot be recovered or transferred to anyone other than the nominating entity (the sponsoring business or organization).

Watch Out!

While a lot of the focus is on the Temporary Skills Shortage subclass 482 visa, if you are nominating an employee who already holds a subclass 457 visa and is moving to you from their previous employer, you will still need to contribute to the Skilling Australians Fund Levy.

What If?

There is an interesting provision in the Instrument which has provided the date for the Skilling Australians Fund to be brought in. It says that if section 3 of the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Act 2018 does not commence (as it is always possible that things might change), then these regulations will not commence either.

If you are considering nominating an employee, it is important that you keep a very close eye on news about the Fund as the 12 August 2018 draws nearer.

What Will This Mean Overall?

With the increasing financial friction to nominating an employee for an employer-sponsored visa, it is likely that we will continue to see the number of applications under this stream decrease, even faster than we have previously noted.

Comments From Chris Johnston

I expect that the introduction of the Skilling Australians Fund on 12 August 2018 is likely to reduce even further the already restricted number of applications we are seeing for employer-sponsored visas. A lot of applications will probably not go ahead because of the Skilling Australians Fund.

While the Department have projected high expected revenue from this levy, the decrease in the number of applications is likely to strongly affect this. These estimates may be out by up to 50%-75% due to the effect of dicincentivisation not being accounted for.

Do you need help with an Australian visa application?

Sources:

• Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Regulations 2018

The new subclass 482 TSS visa has replaced the subclass 457 visa.

This is the 10 Things you need to know about the 482 visa.

Tougher vetting imposed by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has led migration to plummet to its lowest since 2007. As reported by the Department of Home Affairs, actual intake fell from 183,608 in 2016-2017 to a staggering 162,417 for the 2017-2018 financial year. This is attributed to a 46 per cent increase in visas being refused and an additional 17 per cent rise in application withdrawals due to the greater scrutiny, according to The Australian. Even though the government is not required to fulfil the current migration cap of 190,000, nearly every previous year they have.

Australian Immigration News Video May 2018 - SAF, TSS 482, Regional Visas

Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) State Nomination 188/132 Re-Opened for South Australia

Immigration SA has re-opened the application system for Business Innovation and Investment State nomination 188/132 on Monday 9^th July 2018. With the re-opening of the Business and Investment State nomination 188/132 applications it is very important to remember that there is a quota that determines the availability of applications. This means that there are limited places available and that the system will close again. As a result, it is important to apply as soon as possible.

Results for the latest SkillSelect invitation round on 6 June 2018 have been published. Here is a summary of the results:

• 300 Skilled Independent visa invitations were issued
  • applications with 75 points or more were invited
  • applications submitted 31 May 2018 have been invited
• 5 Skilled Regional Sponsored visa invitations were issued
  • applications with 80 points or more were invited
  • applications submitted 8 May 2018 were invited

Key terms: Subclass 189 Skilled Independent visa – Subclass 190 Skilled Nominated visa – Subclass 489 Skilled Regional Sponsored visa – SkillSelect – Expression of Interest (EOI) – Invitation to Apply

Earlier today the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Peter Dutton introduced a new legislative instrument which will increase the minimum points required for skilled visa applications.

There has been a significant drop in Australia’s migrant intake this financial year so far, and the total numbers are expected to fall short of planned figures. The declining trend is continuing on from the last financial year, where overall visa approvals were down from the planned 190,000 to 183,000.

The migration program has been at a constant level (at 190,000) since 2012-13. Taking into account the actual permanent visas granted to 30 April 2018 of 138,086, it is estimated that the number of visas granted in total this 2017-18 financial year will likely be closer to 165,000. This is a significant drop from previous years and is the lowest in seven years.

The decrease is represented in most of the visa categories, however the drop is greatest in skilled independent and employer sponsored work visas.