Uncertainty over Agricultural Visa

Author: Kate Cook

Uncertainty over Agricultural Visa

At the moment, Australia has not got its own specific agricultural visa for migrant workers to work in the agriculture or horticulture industry. With the federal election now behind us it is important that this issue is not forgotten.

In the lead up to the federal election, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud and Shadow Agriculture Minister Joel Fitzgibbon had a debate that covered the significant issue of developing an agriculture visa for Australia. Both ministers agreed that a visa of this kind is needed, though understandably there was much discussion about implementing it in a way that takes into account the issue’s complexity and also makes sure that Australian farmers get the labour they need at crucial times. However, after 6 years of discussion and research, one would think that we would have progressed a bit further toward making this visa a reality.

This issue requires thorough consideration: the consequences it will have for the immigration policy, the urgency of the labour shortage that growers are currently facing, the need for skilled and unskilled roles to be filled, protecting workers from the risk of exploitation, and how this visa will work with Australia’s other visa options all need to be examined.

In light of the hardships that growers are currently facing with Fairwork’s adjustments to the Horticulture Award, it is high time they are given a resolution in regard to the agriculture visa so they have one less thing to worry about. With the election behind us, our hope is that the newly elected officials don’t forget that both of the major parties backed the agriculture visa in their preelection debate, and should be looking to move towards this quickly now that the election is over.