Work and Holiday visa changes
From: July 1
Visitors on the second year of their Working Holiday Maker visa program will become eligible for an additional visa – if they undertake “regional plant and animal cultivation work” for six months.
The Department of Home Affairs defines “regional plant and animal cultivation work” as the harvesting or packing of crops, pruning and trimming vines and trees and processing animal products.
The changes will attract workers to regional Australia for longer, according to the federal government, but it insists Australian workers will continue to get the first opportunity to work.
New migrants need to wait longer for certain social welfare benefits eg. Centrelink's Newstart Source: DIAC images [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
New migrants to wait longer for some forms of welfare
The Morrison government‘s controversial proposal to make newly-arrived migrants wait longer to access various welfare payments is expected to pass parliament in early 2019.
Migrants granted a permanent skilled or family visa would have to wait four years for payments such as Newstart or concessions cards.
The wait for carer payments, parental leave pay, as well as dad and partner pay will be extended to two years, while a one-year wait will apply for a carer allowance and family tax benefit part A.
Labor struck deal with the Coalition in the House of Representatives to water down the initial bill, which was much tougher - but it was later revealed the initial bill would not have had the numbers to pass if Labor had opposed it.
"We were concerned that if we opposed it, it was then opening the doors for parties like One Nation and Fraser Anning to negotiate with the government on it,” Labor Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said.
“We took the view it was better to negotiate with the government ourselves to try and get an arrangement which we could live with."
The bill will face the Senate in early 2019, after which, if it passes, will become law.
