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High Court ruling: New visa requirements for offshore resources

THE High Court of Australia has ruled that foreign nationals on vessels supporting resources activities in Australian waters are required to hold a work visa.

Handed down on 31 August 2016, the judgement supporting the maritime unions’ challenge to a ministerial determination regarding offshore migration arrangements took effect immediately.

Under the determination non-citizens on vessels supporting offshore resources activities had been exempted from requiring a work visa.

As a consequence of the judgement, non-citizens currently working in Australia under the previous exception are now required to hold either a Subclass 457 Temporary Work (skilled) visa or a Subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) visa.

The Department of Immigration & Border Protection advised that those foreign nationals are able to remain on a vessel but must immediately cease work until they obtain a 400 or a 457 visa.

Updated information on visa requirements for working in Australia’s offshore oil and gas industry is now available on the department’s website. It is understood the department is exploring the best way to approach offshore resource-related migration in future.

Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton said the government had provided the limited visa exemption to both protect and support jobs for Australian workers and provide certainty for the offshore resources industry.

“This (judgement) will add red tape, add costs to industry and reduce the competitiveness of what is one of Australia’s biggest export earners,” he said.

AREEA executive director Scott Barklamb said that with most of Australia’s offshore resource projects having moved beyond peak construction, the immediate impact of the decision is not as pressing or widespread as it would have been two years ago. However, there will be some immediate inconveniences and there are broader concerns for the industry.

“The longer term concern lies in the cumulative impact of additional regulatory costs on Australia’s competitiveness as a resource economy,” he said.

“The role of non-Australian crew members on highly specialised construction vessels is a very small, but critical part of building offshore resource projects. Making the employment of such workers more regulated, more costly and more difficult in Australia than it is in competing resource economies will have consequences and will make it even harder to bring future resource investment to Australia.

“Australia needs to be doing all it can to position itself to attract the next wave of global resources investment, and today’s judgement means Australia now regulates work supporting the offshore resources sector differently to the rest of the world.”

AREEA is liaising with the department to assist members with urgent visa requests.

For more information or assistance, contact AREEA principal adviser – workplace policy, Lisa Matthews on (03) 6270 2256 or [email protected].

Click here for a summary of the High Court decision, its practical impacts as well as background on the ministerial determination and offshore migration regulation.

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