On 18 April 2017, the Government announced a number of reforms to Australia’s temporary and permanent skilled visa programmes. Implementation of the reforms commenced on 19 April 2017 and will be completed by March 2018.  For information about these reforms – see:

• joint media release with the Hon. Malcom Turnbull MP, Prime Minister – Putting Australian workers first – available at Minister for Immigration and Border Protection website
• Abolition and replacement of the 457 visa – Government reforms to employer sponsored skilled migration visas– including Fact Sheets one and two which discuss some of these changes in greater detail.

In addition to the reforms which have already been implemented on 19 April 2017, there are a number of further changes which will take effect on 1 July 2017. These changes will specifically impact on the following temporary and permanent skilled migration programmes:

• Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457)
• Employer Nomination Scheme visa (subclass 186)
• Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme visa (subclass 187)
• Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) – including NZ pathway
• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
• Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489).