Skilling Australians fund legislation passed

Further to our publications in January 2018, March 2018 and April 2018 on the changes being made to the work visa program, we can now confirm that the legislation which introduces the skilling levy fund was passed by Senate today. The start date of the fund is subject to the Royal Assent and regulatory publication.

The introduction of this fund will remove the current training benchmark requirement. Instead, businesses looking to sponsor employees for a Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) (Subclass 482) visa will be required to make an upfront contribution between $1,200 and $1,800 for each year they wish to sponsor someone on the TSS visa.

Businesses wishing to sponsor employees for an Australian permanent residence visa under Subclass 186 will need to make a one off contribution of either $3,000 or $5,000 depending on their turnover.

We will outline the specifics of the regulations, their applications and implementation date once released by the Department of Home Affairs.