New Australian Agriculture Visa – Pathway to Permanent Residency & Regional Resettlement

The federal government has introduced Agricultural Visa primarily aimed to attract workforce from Pacific and Southeast Asian countries. This visa will respond to the workforce shortage issue due to the pandemic in farming, fisheries and forestry. It will come into effect from September 21 post-harvest, although there is no displacement of countries signing up for this visa. It is not capped and will provide pathway opportunities for foreigners leading to residency and regional resettlement.
After the Seasonal worker programme and Pacific Labour Scheme, it can be considered a highly successful additional step taken by the government.

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Brief Summary of the Press Conference conducted by David Littleproud, Minister of Agriculture

• This is probably the biggest reform in Australian History for structuring agricultural labour.
• This visa has all the additional features which the agricultural industry is seeking in Australia.
• Post coronavirus border closure, a shortage of 30,000 workers in the Agricultural sector occurred due to the decline of holiday visa holders.
• The meat processing sectors are functioning at 60 to 70 percent capacity due to the declining participation of the workforce.
• Farmer’s patience can’t be tested to get their crop chopped off although, locals have given priority in these sectors
• The government is expecting Pacific and Timorese workers to go double beyond 24,000 under this scheme.
• The workers will be facing a quarantine period due to the ongoing pandemic and additional restrictions imposed on Pacific workers.
• The Government is continuously working with states and territories to ensure their workforce needs get fulfilled without affecting the strict caps applied on international arrivals.
• Ahead of their caps, all the premiers and chief ministers agreed on imposing quarantine of agricultural workers
• States not having caps can take some of the agricultural workers and perform their hotel arrangements.
• The State government are receiving encouragement from the federal government and the industry for looking after the ways to bring workers, inclusive of farm or in-country quarantine programs.
• The State Government will act with maturity and opportunity to tackle this situation.
• Courage and Conviction needs to be shown for boosting the economy and fight the adverse impact of COVID-19.

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