YOUR INDUSTRY
Agriculture visa to secure labour force for farmers
T
he Australian Government announced the establishment of an Australian Agriculture visa to build on the highly successful existing Pacific schemes. This visa responds to workforce shortages in the agriculture and primary industry sectors, and recent changes to the Working Holiday Maker program developed as part of the UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement.
The Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, said the new visa — to be in place before the end of this year — would enable workers from the 10 ASEAN nations to work in Australia for up to nine months, three years in a row.
“The agriculture visa delivers what so many primary producers are crying out for,” Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said.
“The agriculture visa will be in place no later than 30 September this year, with the full implementation of this demanddriven visa complete within 3 years.”
The Australian Agriculture visa will be available to workers across the agriculture (including meat processing), The new visa would enable fisheries and forestry workers from the 10 ASEAN sectors and provide a basis nations to work in Australia for the ongoing growth of for up to 9 months. Australia’s primary industries as they strive to reach $100 billion in value by 2030.
He adds “it will give regional Australia the workers they need to get produce to plate in Australia, as well as our export markets.
The program will be operated by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, building on the strong outcomes from Pacific labour mobility programs.
f THE Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, said the new visa will be in place before the end of this year.
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WA Grower SPRING 2021
