On 14 November 2008 the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Senator Chris Evans, released the report of the Visa Subclass 457 Integrity Review conducted by industrial relations expert Barbara Deegan.

The Temporary Business (Subclass 457) Visa is the most commonly used program for employers to sponsor overseas workers to work in Australia from a period of between 3 months to 4 years, however in the past the visa class has frequently being used to exploit ‘cheap labour’.

The report attempts to address concerns in three areas:

Minimum Salary Level and Labour Agreements

English Language Requirement and Occupational Health and Safety

Integrity and Exploitation

You can check out the full reports by clicking here (link opens in a new window)