Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Immigration) Share this | Hansard source

Modern Australia is built on migration. The great economic advancements that we had in the wake of World War II were related to the 'populate or perish' policy that our immigration department and Arthur Calwell delivered in those important years after the Second World War.

Unfortunately, as a government, we're aware that too many migrants who are working in Australia have been exploited. They haven't received the correct wages and conditions that they are entitled to. Many unscrupulous employers have taken advantage of the power imbalance that exists between migrant worker and employer. Our government is determined to fix this and ensure that all Australian workers, including migrants, enjoy the full protection of the law and are paid a fair wage for a fair day's work. We're taking responsible action to fix the problems that we've inherited in this system from the previous government. We're restoring integrity to the system and working to bring migration back to sustainable levels, with a focus on skilled migration as a major part of the program.

When we first came to government, we commissioned Martin Parkinson to review the country's migration system. It hadn't been done for decades, but we thought it was important to take stock of whether or not the migration system was delivering better living standards, greater productivity to our economy and, most importantly, better living conditions for migrants who come to Australia. Martin Parkinson found that the system was 'broken' and in need of 'major reform'. In the wake of that, we put together the Migration strategy to fix the problems that Martin Parkinson had identified, which had developed under the previous government.

This bill that we bring to the parliament today is part of this process of fixing the issues that we inherited from the previous government, particularly those around combating migrant exploitation. The government have been clear about the need to bring migration back to normal and our actions are helping to achieve that. But we're also restoring integrity to the system and ensuring that it delivers the skills that we need. This legislation strengthens arrangements around skilled entry to Australia by introducing a public register of approved work sponsors, to be published and maintained by the Department of Home Affairs on their website. It will implement a commitment made by our government in the Migration strategy, which was released in December 2023.

The exploitation of those on temporary visas hurts all workers by driving down wages and worsening conditions for everyone. This reform provides enhanced protections and oversight mechanism. The intention is that the development of a public register will encourage transparency, monitoring and oversight. The register will help combat temporary skilled migrant worker exploitation by enabling workers to find a new sponsor and provide a resource to check that a sponsoring employer is legitimate. The proposed amendment in the bill is underpinned by extensive consultation that was undertaken with businesses, unions and stakeholders through the migration review that informed the Migration strategy.

Delays in the passage of this bill will mean delays in the implementation of the public register which strengthens the integrity of the temporary skilled visa program. The register is of employers who are approved as standard business sponsors and have nominated skilled workers for entry into Australia. The register may include details such as the type of approved sponsor, the name of the approved sponsor, the approved sponsor's ABN, the postcode associated with the approved sponsor's ABN, the number of sponsored workers and the occupations nominated by the approved sponsor.

Including the postcode registered with the approved sponsor will enable migrants who are considering mobility to identify employers nearby and increase the practicality of the register. The register will complement the public register for sanctioned sponsors published by Australian Border Force. This is a name-and-shame register that workers and other employers can go to in order to see who is abiding by the rules and regulations related to people working in Australia on visas. Approved standard business sponsors will be automatically included on the register without needing to request this at the time of applying for sponsorship.

The data behind the register will be uploaded and updated regularly to ensure that it remains current. Information will be provided to approved sponsors at the time of sponsorship application as well as messaging on the department's website to alert them to their business details to be included on the register. The register will also draw on already available public information, such as the information the sponsor has provided for their ABN. Any disclosure of information on the register would be consistent with the Privacy Act 1988. No personal identifying information of nominated workers will be included on the register.

The government has made a commitment in the Migration Strategy to develop a new skills-in-demand visa. The passage of this bill will continue the government's commitment to implement reforms to strengthen and maintain integrity of the temporary migration system. Migrants make a valuable contribution to Australia, not only to our prosperity but also to our communities, our national identity and our connections across the world. They have the right to feel safe and to be safe, particularly in their workplaces. Since 1945 more than six million migrants have chosen to make Australia their home, and each of them has in their own unique way contributed to our cities, regions and towns. They're our relatives, neighbours, friends, work colleagues, acquaintances, industry and business leaders, corporate and small-business owners, and of course workers—good, hardworking people who help shape our culture and our social, civic and economic life.

Our human diversity is both our nation's defining characteristic and our nation's greatest strength. My electorate of Kingsford Smith was one of the original homes to many of those post World War II migrants—the Greeks, the Italians and the Chinese—who settled in our area, and we're now into the third and in some cases fourth generation of those original migrants. I love living in a country where you can have a front-row seat to see Australians from so many backgrounds honouring their traditions while passing them down through those new generations.

We know how important it is to maintain the Australian people's trust and confidence in the migration system, to ensure that those settings that we put in place for migration work in the national interest and deliver better living standards for all Australians. At the same time, we're progressing an ambitious migration reform agenda, building a migration system that matches the needs of the nation and delivers for Australians and for migrants. This bill will help ensure that we have the skills we need into the future and ultimately make sure that the system is working in the interests of all Australians. The Albanese government continues our important reform work to ensure that the migration system works in the interests of all Australians and can be the best that it can be. Much has been achieved already, particularly in relation to system integrity, skills gaps and student migration. We're restoring public trust and aligning with Australia's economic and humanitarian programs.

Australia is a great country. We must never take our way of life for granted. It must be cherished, valued and nurtured, and this bill is an important step towards achieving this government's aim of a coherent migration strategy that delivers better living standards for all Australians.

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