Australian Immigration regulations have undergone a range of changes in the last 18 months, and there’s still more to come, however one thing that remains constant is the fact that all employers need to be on top of their employees right to work in the country.
It’s important to note employer sanctions legislation mean employers, executives and directors are personally responsible for every single employees’ right to work, whether they have a visa or not. Significant on-the-spot fines can be issued, so it’s worth ensuring you’re compliant at all times.
Sighting an Australian or NZ passport may be sufficient, however if an employee doesn’t possess one of these you’ll need to check their visa status using the Visa Entitlement Verification Online service (VEVO).
The process can be time consuming, The Migration Agency has introduced a fully managed service to simplify this process for you. However, first of all, let’s delve a little deeper into the legal obligations in regards to sponsorship.
TSS / 482 Temporary Visa Obligations for Employers
With 2.77 million temporary visa holders in Australia (as of July 2024) this is one of the most common work visas in the country. If you’re employing people on a 482 visa, the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) requires you to ensure visa holders documentation is correct, and up-to-date.
You must:
- Notify DOHA when certain notifiable events occur
- Ensure employees work in their nominated occupation
- Understand your obligation to pay travel costs for sponsored employees in range of circumstances
- Ensure terms and conditions of employment meet Australian requirements
- Keep all relevant records up-to-date and provide to DOHA on request
This list is not exhaustive, but represents the main obligations of an organisation sponsoring an employee on a TSS/482 visa, and the penalties for failure to meet your obligations can be severe.
Penalties & sanctions for failure
While DOHA may have been lenient in the past, the following actions are now frequently taken when obligations are missed.
- Barred from sponsorship for up to five years
- Cancellation of a sponsorship approval
- Infringement notice (a fine)
- Civil penalty order (a fine of up to $400K)
- Enforceable undertaking (enforcing a certain action is taken)
Please be aware, even if you’re not a client of ours and you receive a NOTA, do get in touch and we can help.
Vevo Checks & Immigration Compliance Service
All of the above can be a lot to manage, and with the penalties involved it can be a costly exercise if you make a mistake, which is why we’ve developed a new compliance service that takes care of it all for you.
Our automated service helps you with the following:
- Reducing compliance administration by taking manual VEVO checks off your to-do list
- Streamlining right to work checks for all new staff
- Providing a plain English explanation of work rights
- Ensuring your data is protected with a system that has ISO27001:2022 accreditation
We’ll upload all the relevant details into our system, ensure all the correct information is stored securely, help you meet your obligations and ensure there is a clear audit trail so you’re covered if the DOHA decides to perform an inspection.
If you’d like some help with any of this, or more details about our automated system, please book a consultation here.
