Turnbull Abolishes 457 Visa Program 

Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull has announced that the 457 visa program will be abolished and replaced by “new temporary visa” with requirements around work history and English skills.

Number of occupations eligible for two-year visa will be reduced and changes would stop “open-ended” nature of 457 visas. 457 visas often were used for permanent migration to Australia. 

Turnbull said that Australia is an immigration nation, and Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs.

A 457 visa is a business visa given for four years to a worker and their family. The visa was introduced by the Howard Government. 

Those working on a 457 visa are governed by the same minimum conditions of employment as Australian workers.

“We’re abolishing the 457 visas, the visas which bring temporary foreign workers into our country.”

As of 31 March 2016 there were 177,390 subclass 457 visa holders in Australia. Of these, 97,766 were primary visa holders and 79,624 were secondary visa holders (that is, dependents of the primary visa holder).

Under the Howard and Abbott/Turnbull Governments 665,473 primary 457 visas were granted compared to the 621,367 granted under the Rudd/Gillard Labor Governments. 

The announcement was made via Facebook.