Newsletter 200

Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) (Sc 188) Closure 

The Migration Regulations 1994 have been amended to close the Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) to new visa applications. Specifically, applications for the Sc 188 visa under the Business Innovation, Investor, Significant Investor, and Entrepreneur streams must be submitted before 31 July 2024, effectively closing these streams to new applicants after that date. Existing Sc 188 visa applications will still be processed under the pre-31 July 2024 regulations.

As previously mentioned, the following related visa pathways will remain open:

• Current Sc 188 visa holders in the Business Innovation or Significant Investor streams can continue to apply in the Business Innovation Extension and Significant Investor Extension streams.
• Applications can still be made by family members of a primary Sc 188 visa holder or an applicant granted a Sc 188 visa from an existing application, to meet the secondary criteria for the Sc 188 visa.
• Sc 188 visa holders, including those granted a visa based on an application submitted before 31 July 2024, can continue to apply for the permanent Subclass 888 visa.

These changes will take effect on 19 July 2024.

Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) to commence in October 

As previously communicated, legislation to abolish the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and replace it with the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) was passed by Parliament in May 2024 and received royal assent in June 2024.

The Attorney-General has announced that the new ART will commence operations on 14 October 2024.

All matters currently before the AAT will proceed as usual and will automatically transition to the ART once it begins. Individuals who have applied to the AAT for a decision review do not need to submit a new application. Additionally, all finalized AAT decisions will not be reconsidered by the ART.

This information can be found in the Attorney-General’s media release.

On-Hire Labour Agreements salary  

The Department has reviewed the On-Hire labour agreements and now requires that the annual earnings for skilled overseas workers, based on a standard 38-hour week, be at least 20% higher than the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT). Additionally, their pay must not be less than what an Australian performing the same job at your approved workplace would receive.

They have been receiving emails from the Department, informing them that the assessment of their On-Hire Labour Agreement request has begun and requesting confirmation that all on-hire occupations will be paid 20% above TSMIT.

State Updates- 2024-25 nomination allocations 

ACT

The Australian Government has assigned 1,800 nomination places to the ACT for the 2024-25 program year.

The allocation for the ACT includes:

• Skilled Nominated visa (Sc 190): 1,000 places
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (Sc 491): 800 places

The ACT Government has announced that the next invitation round will take place before 31 August 2024.

Please check the ACT Government website for further updates.

Victoria 

The Australian Government has allocated 5,000 skilled visa nomination places to Victoria for the 2024-25 program year.

Victoria’s allocation includes:

• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190): 3,000 places
• Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491): 2,000 places

For further updates, please review the Live in Melbourne website.

ANZSCO review final consultation

The fourth and final round of consultation for the comprehensive review of ANZSCO will take place from 25 July 2024 to 6 September 2024. During this period, a draft classification will be available for review for six weeks. Everyone is encouraged to examine the draft and provide feedback on the proposed structural changes before they are finalized in December 2024. The main focus of this consultation round will be on the structure and usability of the classification.

Proposed changes to the structure include:

• Reassigning occupations to different groups in the hierarchy to better reflect skill level or specialization
• Splitting groups with large numbers of employed persons
• Merging groups with small numbers of employed persons
• Renumbering the codes used to represent occupations and groups

A guide will be available on the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Consultation Hub from 25 July, detailing the simple steps to participate and provide feedback.

RDA Stakeholder Survey

The Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts is conducting a short survey to obtain feedback about the effectiveness of the Regional Development Australia (RDA) program in supporting economic development.  

Everyone are encouraged to provide feedback on their experiences with the RDA Committees.  

The survey closes on Wednesday, 24 July 2024 at 4 pm (AEST) and can be accessed here.