PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Australian Institute of Geoscientists (AIG) has called for a tightening of the 457 visa eligibility requirements for overseas geoscientists to combat the high rate of unemployment among local geoscientists.

In a written request to Immigration and Border Protection Minister Peter Dutton, the AIG requested that geoscientists be included in the list of professions that are not exempt from Labour Market Testing (LMT) under the 457 visa programme.

The LMT protocols are designed to require an onus of proof on the sponsoring company that it has undertaken sufficient effort to show that no suitably qualified and experienced Australian person can hold the position.

The AIG says LMT may be required for 457 visa applications for a range of professions, trades and other occupations, while the nonexempt list also included mining and geoscience professionals such as geotechnical, mining and petroleum engineers, and drillers, but not geologists and geophysicists.

“What we need, and urgently, is mandatory LMT for geoscientists under the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457) programme,” AIG president Wayne Spilsbury said.

“During the ‘mining boom’, Australian exploration and mining companies benefited from an ability to sponsor overseas trained and experienced geoscientists to work in Australia under the temporary work visa programme,” he pointed out.

“The need for this now, however, at a time of dramatically reduced opportunities for geoscientists who are Australian citizens and permanent residents, must be questioned.”

The AIG expressed concern over the increasing frustrations experienced among its members when they encountered continued sponsorship of overseas geoscientists under the 457 visa protocols.

“There are rising accounts of foreign geoscientists working in Australia at a time of high under- and unemployment for our local geoscientists.

“The AIG recognises the value and need for the 457 visa programme. It has no issue with geoscientists who are 457 visa holders currently working in Australia under the programme, or geoscientists who arrived in Australia under temporary visa programmes and became residents, but who now share the pain created by new admissions at a time when one-third of resident geoscientists are struggling to secure employment.

“However, under current deteriorating conditions in the resources sector, we do call on the federal government to add geoscientists (geologists and geophysicists) to the list of professions that are not exempt from LMT under the programme.” 

The AIG said that adding geoscientists to the nonexempt list for LMT would enhance the intent of the 457 visa programme by enabling companies to sponsor 457 visa applicants, but only after exhausting opportunities to employ a suitably qualified and experienced geoscientist who is already an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

The latest data released from the AIG found that more than 75% of Australia’s geoscientists work in the exploration and mining sectors and are currently experiencing a national unemployment rate exceeding 15%. An additional 20% of geoscientists are unable to secure their desired level of employment.