How to sponsor foreign talent into your facility

When managing an aged care facility, having appropriately qualified and experienced staff is a must. But for many organisations, finding the right people has become extremely challenging in the face of Australia’s skills shortages. To tackle this, the Australian Government, in conjunction with employers and unions, recently established a new Aged Care Labour Agreement (ACLA) to plug the talent gap. This article explains:

• how the ACLA works; and
• how you can legally sponsor talent into your aged care business.

What roles does the ACLA help fill?

With previous migration programs proving ineffective at addressing the aged care industry’s acute skills shortages, the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) introduced the ACLA in May this year to fill skills shortages in the following occupations:

• Nursing Support Worker (Assistant in Nursing);
• Personal Care Assistant (Personal Care Worker); and
• Aged or Disabled Carer.
   

Under the ACLA, aged care providers can now sponsor overseas workers on the following visas:

• the Temporary Skill Shortage visa (TSS) (subclass 482) for up to 4 years
• the Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) visa (subclass 186) after a two-year transition period, or after demonstrating two years of work experience at the required skill level.

Note: The ACLA is aimed at helping care providers who operate aged care residential facilities. It is not suitable for NDIS providers who offer in-home care services to aged and disabled patients, who should instead consider a Company Specific Labour Agreement (CSLA).

Benefits of the ACLA

The ACLA has several benefits, including:

• a two-year pathway to permanent residence through the Employer Nomination Scheme;
• a streamlined visa nomination and priority visa application processing; and
• no post-qualification work experience requirement for the subclass 482 visa.

Reduced skills requirements

To attract as many appropriately and minimally qualified overseas workers as possible, the ACLA skills requirements have been reduced under the 482 visa. In particular, post-qualification work experience is not a requirement. Instead, the ACLA offers the following minimum qualifications:

• a relevant AQF Certificate III or equivalent or higher; or
• 12 months of relevant full-time work experience or part-time equivalent; or
• a positive skills assessment if the applicant obtained qualification overseas or is claiming work experience in lieu of a relevant qualification; and
• no age limit.

Further, no minimum post-qualification work experience is required if the applicant’s language skills meet:

• IELTS 5.0 (or equivalent) with minimum component scores of 5.0 for speaking and listening and 4.5 for reading and writing — workers employed by culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) aged care providers; or
• IELTS 4.5 (or equivalent) with no component minimum, provided the overseas worker is fluent in the target community language.

Path to permanent residence

To make migration more attractive to prospective overseas talent, the ACLA provides a pathway to permanent residency. Aged care providers can directly nominate a migrant worker (provided they have two years of full-time Australian work experience) for permanent residence under the subclass 186 visa.

Facilities must also offer certain employment conditions, including:

• employment must be on a full-time permanent basis (38 hours per week); and
• minimum salary of $51,222 AUD (guaranteed annual earnings) or the Australian Market Salary Rate for the position, whichever is higher.

Three key steps for requesting an ACLA

1. Enter an MOU

The first step for all Australian aged care providers is to enter into an MOU with the relevant union:

• Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation
• Health Services Union or
• United Workers Union.
   

Approaching an appropriate union will depend on the occupation and the location of the sponsored workers.

2. Submit a request

The next step involves submitting a request for an ACLA to the DOHA and providing an extensive business case as to why the business requires the ACLA.

3. Submit a nomination and visa application

Lastly, the associated nomination and visa application must be submitted for the sponsored worker.

The ACLA should go a long way to addressing the Australian aged care industry’s skills shortage. However, for assistance on understanding the process further, contact a lawyer or qualified immigration agent.

*Yin Chiew is a lawyer and Immigration Practice Leader for LegalVision.

Image caption: iStockphoto.com/PeerCreative