Maria Jockel

BDO Migration Services

Melbourne www.bdo.com.au

maria.jockel@bdo.com.au Tel: +61 3 9603 1830

Biography

Maria is the global and national immigration leader and legal principal of BDO Migration Services, an incorporated legal practice that specialises in all aspects of Australian immigration and nationality law for corporate and private clients. Maria is an accredited specialist in immigration law and leads BDO’s Global Immigration Services, which operates in nearly 100 countries. Acknowledged as one of Australia’s leading specialists in immigration law, Maria brings a unique depth and breadth of immigration law, and corporate and commercial-related legal experience from her years in private practice and government service.

What inspired you to become an immigration lawyer and what was the biggest challenge you faced joining the profession?

After I completed my Law /Arts Honours Degrees and commenced legal practice, I was appointed to various federal government and state government bodies, which enlivened my interest in the interface of law and policy.

This included the National Population Council advising the federal ministers of immigration on immigration and population issues; the Family Law Council advising the attorney general on family law and related issues; the Advisory Council of the Office of Multicultural Affairs advising the prime minister on multicultural affairs; and as the deputy chairman of the Ethnic Affairs Commission overseeing the monitoring and analysing trends in immigration, population and labour force participation and the implications for government services and the needs of ethnic groups.

I was also appointed a consultant to the Law Reform Commission regarding the report on “Multiculturalism and the Law”.

After being appointed to the Law Institute of Victoria Immigration Law Specialisation Committee and following the establishment of Specialist Accreditation in Immigration, I became an accredited specialist in immigration law.

My biggest challenge has been juggling family with career as Australia’s immigration laws are highly codified, complex and dynamic in response to the priorities of the government of the day. Finding the right work-life balance takes commitment.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your role as an immigration lawyer?

Working with Australian and global corporations to address skilled workforce shortages with temporary and permanent entry visas, underpins Australia’s economic prosperity and is consistent with the priorities of the new federal government.

The next raft of reforms following the Jobs and Skills Summit September 2022, including the proposed review of the Migration Program, will offer further opportunities to keep up with the pace of change and best help our clients, which I find most rewarding.

How do you see your corporate immigration developing over the next five years?

With the new government and Australia’s critical workforce shortages which are adversely impacting Australia’s economic recovery post pandemic, there is likely to be significant and ongoing change.

This includes the review of and possible consolidation of the various Skilled Occupation Lists to provide a pathway to permanent residence for all occupations; the review of the nature of the visa – specific criteria including as to the ANZSCO based classification of occupations; and a simplification of the existing Skilled Migration Program to provide clearer and more streamlined pathways from temporary to permanent residency, including to regional Australia.

With global mobility continuing to grow, corporate immigration is likely to become more complex as it interfaces with employer tax obligations generally, including pay-as-you-go (PAYG), superannuation, fringe benefits tax, payroll tax, workers compensation and the growing trend for a mobile workforce working remotely, anywhere in the world.

Employers need to review their local and global policies to better address their workforce needs in a rapidly changing world and a war for talent.

In Australia, we now have 41 percent of employees working outside of the office and some one million Australians living and working overseas.

The proposed review of the Migration Program will bring more change, as the new federal government balances the interests of business with that of the unions.

To what extent has the use of technology in Australia's immigration policy helped streamline the process, if at all?

The Department of Home Affairs continues to enhance its web-based services with evolving digital technology to enable it to streamline its client centric services and information provision. This includes pre-lodgement enquiries, visa lodgement (including a quality assurance completeness check) fee payment, biometric enrolment, data input and data sharing across specified government agencies.

ImmiAccount is the Department's digital ‘front door’, providing public access to a range of digital and online services. It encourages clients to create and use individual online ImmiAccount to lodge and action matters relating to their visa and citizenship applications, reducing reliance on phone and in-person engagement.

The Department’s online virtual assistant has continued to assist clients with enquiries. In 2020–2021, the virtual assistant responded to around 422,000 enquiries, including 89,095 related to covid-19.

The use of technology is critical to meeting the burgeoning demand for temporary and permanent entry at a time when the Department receives over 15 million applications annually and there is an ever-growing demand for departmental services.

Do you believe Australia's immigration policies are too restrictive, and if so, how could this be improved?

There is a need to significantly boost Australia’s global competitiveness with the acute skill shortages across all sectors. This includes in health, education, aged care, professional services, and agricultural workers.

With the ageing of Australia's population, the demand for aged care workers continues to grow. The Committee for Economic Development of Australia reported in 2021 that the aged care workforce will need to expand by nearly 17,000 workers a year during the next decade to meet the basic standards of aged care.

There is a need to simplify the pathway to permanent residence for short–term stream Temporary Skill Shortage (482) visa holders, including to regional areas.

The Skilled Occupation Lists must also be simplified, and preferably consolidated and allow for a new migration pathway for lower skilled workers critical to industry, including to support the aged care sector.

The forthcoming review of the Migration Program requires a consideration of various factors including employment, training, migration, technology and industry related considerations to best support Australia’s immigration needs for the next decade.

Will Australia become more accessible post-covid-19?

In April 2022, the Australian federal government signed the interim Australia-India Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement, to further strengthen the economic trading relationship between the two countries. Once the full Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement is signed, it will open the door into the world's fastestgrowing major economy for Australian farmers, manufacturers, and producers.

In December 2021, Australia also signed the Australia–United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement, which once it becomes a binding treaty, will include reciprocal commitments on temporary entry of skilled personnel that will support the bilateral advancement of professional skills, commercial interests, and modern value chains.

The Australian Strategy for International Education 2021–2030 includes a diversification strategy, which aims to diversify source countries and capitalise on offshore and digital opportunities as Australia continues to compete with the UK, USA, and Canada for international students.

It is anticipated that as Australia expands its free trade agreements, these together with Australia's Student Visa Program will be important sources of skilled migrants, aligned with Australia’s future skills needs.

These and other measures will make Australia more accessible post-covid-19, as it must be.

Australia is renowned for having a highly selective migration program – what impact do you believe this has on businesses hoping to diversify their workforce?

The Jobs and Skills Summit, 2022 brought together government, employers, unions, and the broader community to look at initiatives to build a bigger, better trained, and more productive workforce, to boost real wages and living standards, and to create more opportunities for more Australians.

This is part of the new government’s commitment to show leadership of Australia’s labour market and current, emerging, and future workforce skills needs, including by increasing the permanent migration ceiling to 195,000 in 2022-2023.

It has also extended visas and relaxed work restrictions on international students to strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour and allocated additional funding to resolve the visa backlog.

Employers are likely to see an increase in short-term assignments, remote working arrangements, and skilled migration that involves moving people to the job, as part of the strategies required to address their workforce needs.

While the Migration Program will be subject to reform, Australia is likely to continue to have a highly selective migration program, where the needs of business are balanced with that of unions and the need to protect Australian jobs.

WWL says: “Maria’s demonstrated mastery of the Australian immigration system mean her cases are often the most complex, yet she never fails to achieve the right outcomes for our business and achieve excellent results.”

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