The Department of Immigration and Citizenship have announced that, on the 24 November 2012, 12 current temporary work visa Subclasses will be repealed, three new temporary Subclasses will be introduced and the Subclass 420 and 457 visas will be amended.

New temporary subclasses

A Subclass 401 (Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity) visa will be introduced as a single Long Stay Activity sponsorship stream. The 401 visa will have three streams:

1. Exchange stream;
2. Sport stream; and
3. Religious worker stream.

It will replace the Exchange (Subclass 411), Sports (Subclass 421), and Religious Work (Subclass 428) visas.

A new subclass 402 (Training and Research) visa will also be introduced. This visa Subclass will require sponsorship. It will contain the following three streams:

1. Applicants covered by an international government agreement, or who direct the operations in Australia of certain language institutes;
2. Applicants who are to be employed as representatives of certain foreign government agencies or as foreign language teachers in Australian schools; and
3. Applicants who undertake domestic duties in the households of holders of diplomatic visas; and applicants accorded privileges and immunities.

This new visa and its three streams will replace the Subclass 406 (Government Agreement) visa, the Subclass 415 (Foreign Government Agency) visa, Subclass 426 (Domestic Worker – Diplomatic or Consular visa, and the Privileges and Immunities provisions currently in the Subclass 456 (Business (Short Stay)) and Subclass 457 (Business (Long Stay)) visas.

Amended visas

The subclass 420 (Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa will be amended. This amendment will result in:

• The provisions relating to overseas film crew currently in the Subclass (Media and Film Staff) visa will be relocated to the Subclass 420 (Temporary Work (Entertainment) visa; and
• The 420 visa will also continue to provide some other provisions currently in the Subclass 423 (Media and Film Staff) visa in the Subclass 457 (Business (Long Stay)) and Subclass 456 (Business (Short Stay)) visas.

The 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled) visa will also be amended. These amendments will:

• Repeal the existing Subclass 427 (Domestic Worker (Executive)) and Subclass 422 (Medical Practitioner) visas; and
• Manage provisions relating to the Subclass 427 visa under the Labour Agreement provisions of the amended Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa.

If you need personal advice on how these changes will impact on your unique circumstances, please contact our Migration Team.