The Migration Amendment (Skilling Australians Fund) Bill 2017 and the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Changes Bill were passed this year by the Australian Senate.
The Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy impacts employers sponsoring overseas workers on both temporary and permanent visas. The Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Act 2018 (the SAF Charges Act) is related to the ‘nomination training contribution charge’ payable by persons who are responsible to pay the charge under the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations 1994.
The charge is levied on employers who nominate workers for temporary or permanent skilled work visas including: · Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) (subclass 482) visa · Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (subclass 186) visa · Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS) (subclass 187) visa Five states have signed the Agreement: New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. These states will have the opportunity to develop projects for consideration by the Australian Government
The SAF Charges Act commences on 12 August 2018. Section 7 of the SAF Charges Act enforces the charge payable under section 140ZM of the Migration Act. Section 140ZM is introduced by the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Act 2018, which also commences on 12 August 2018. The amount of the charge applicable to nominations made from 12 August 2018 have been recommended by the Migration (Skilling Australians Fund) Charges Regulations 2018 as follows:
- Nominations that relate to temporary visas incur a charge of AUD 1200 per year of the proposed visa period. For businesses with an annual turnover of at least AUD 10 million, a charge of AUD 1,800 per year of the proposed visa period. This charge is applicable to nominations for the new Subclass 482 (Temporary Skill Shortage) visa, (Subclass 482) which commenced on 18 March 2018, and nominations of holders of the Subclass 457 {Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (Subclass 457)}, which was repealed on 18 March 2018
- Nominations that relate to permanent visas incur a once only charge of AUD 3,000. For businesses with an annual turnover of at least AUD 10 million, a once only charge of AUD 5,000 is implied. This charge applies to nominations for the Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme) visa (Subclass 186) and the Subclass 187 (Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme) visa (Subclass 187); and
- An exception to both categories would be that the charge would be nil if: 1. the nomination relates to a Subclass 186 (Employer Nomination Scheme)visa in the Labour Agreement stream; and 2. the application for approval of the nomination identifies the occupation of minister of religion or religious assistant
- The charge replaces requirements in the Migration Regulations requiring sponsors under the temporary sponsored work visa program, or employers nominating a worker for the Direct Entry stream of the Subclass 186 visa, to have recently spent:
- the equivalent of at least two per cent of their business’ payroll in contributions to an industry training fund (training benchmark A); or
- the equivalent of at least one per cent of their business’ payroll on the training of Australians (training benchmark B).