Need staff for your horticulture buisness?
Since 1 January 2020, businesses in Australia’s horticulture industry can access the Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement. This agreement can help horticulture businesses to secure skilled and semi-skilled migrant workers where an appropriate Australian employee is not available.
The Horticulture Industry Labour Agreement can be used by Australian employers for the following:
- Sponsor overseas workers for the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) (subclass 482) visa for a total of 31 approved occupations.
- Sponsor overseas workers for permanent residency under the:
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (SESR) (subclass 494) visa program with a permanent pathway to a Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191) available after three years; or
- Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS) (subclass 186) visa program after a three or four year transitional period on a TSS visa—three years for approved Skill Level 1-3 occupations and four years for approved Skill Level 4-5 occupations.
The following concessions may be available when using the horticulture industry labour agreement:
- Discount of up to 10% on the Temporary Skill Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) where it is demonstrated that equivalent Australian workers do not receive annual earnings of $53,900.
- A broader range of monetary payments (e.g. regularised overtime) and non-monetary benefits (e.g. accommodation) can be counted as guaranteed earnings.
- For the TSS visa—overseas workers must score at least IELTS 5.0 overall, and at least IELTS 4.0 i each individual component score. For the ENS and SESR visas—overseas workers must score at least IELTS 5.0 overall, and at least IELTS 4.5 in each individual component score.
Overseas workers can be up to 50 years of age when they apply for an ENS or SESR visa.
See our website for further information: https://regionalmigration.com/need-staff-for-your-horticulture-business/
Trish Reardon
Partner Business Operations - Regional Migration Australia
Moving to regional Victoria over 20 years ago, Trish is a highly organised business manager with extensive leadership, management and administration skills gained from successfully owning and operating SME organisations. Trish has a strong focus on customer service and corporate governance gained from working in the not-for-profit and government sectors.
Trish has undertaken a number of leadership courses including the Compass Women in Leadership (Dattner Grant) and the Gippsland Industry Tourism Leadership program and has a Diploma in Tourism.
As an active member of a number of not-for-profit community groups and organisations, Trish has developed strong connections with local communities and is a committee member/treasurer for the Old Gippstown Committee of Management and a committee member/judge for the Gippsland Business Awards.