Federal Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan is calling on the Albanese Labor Government to immediately reverse its decision to impose a defacto regional processing penalty on skilled workers in priority sectors hoping to take up one of thousands of jobs that need to be filled in regional communities.
As townships right across the Mid North Coast are crying out for skilled healthcare workers, the Albanese Government has imposed red tape that has meant that nurses, disability support workers, teachers and doctors are being unfairly prevented from priority visa processing.
Thousands of critical workers are being unfairly denied prioritisation of visa because they want to live in regional areas. By failing to recognise the Skilled – Regional visa (subclass 887) in its prioritisation, the Government is effectively encouraging skilled workers to move exclusively to major cities.
The issue stems from Immigration Minister Andrew Giles’ Ministerial Direction No. 100, which directed that “Visa applications in relation to a healthcare or teaching occupation” would receive the top priority for processing. However, his direction did not account for applications for Skilled – Regional visa (subclass 887).
As a result, when a potential candidate applies for a Skilled – Regional visa they are put at the bottom of the pile, even if they want to take up a critical role such a nurse, disability support worker or GP.
This has been confirmed in official correspondence from the Department of Immigration which states:
Please note that subclass 887 visa applications are not made in relation to a specific occupation and therefore fall within priority 5 – All other visa applications.
The Home Affairs website indicated 90 per cent of Skilled – Regional visa (subclass 887) visas are being processed in 27 Months and information released under FOI indicates there could be as many as 19,000 Skilled – Regional visas awaiting processing by the Department.
“I’m calling on the Albanese Government to immediately process these critical visas. Access to health care and education continue to be two of the most crucial issues regional communities face, and the Mid North Coast is feeling this acutely. Our community deserves better than being relegated to the slow lane of visa processing, particularly as a result of a bureaucratic bungle from a Government increasingly out of their depth. It’s not good enough and once again shows Labor ignoring the needs of Regional people,” Mr Conaghan stated.
