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Chefs, bricklayers, tilers added to Skilled Occupation List

Meld Magazine

Fri Jun 20 2014

Chef added to Skilled Occupation List

INTERNATIONAL students pursuing courses in hospitality may be eligible to apply for permanent residency upon graduation after an overhaul of the 457 visa scheme. Kai Yi Wong reports.

Chef added to Skilled Occupation List

Occupations such as chefs have returned to the skilled migration program after being removed by the previous Labor government.

Chefs – together with other professions such as bricklayers and tilers – have been added to the skilled occupancy list, meaning job seekers in these fields no longer have to be sponsored by employers to obtain permanent visas such as the 457 visa.

The change is part of a broad review of the 457 visa scheme, which was promised an overhaul by the Coalition in the lead-up to last year’s Federal election.

For the next financial year, the federal government will limit the general skilled migration program at 43,990 issued visas, and the intake for each of the listed occupations is capped at 6 per cent of the industry’s workforce.

The review of the 457 visa program comes at a crucial time for the hospitality industry, which is facing a massive shortfall in staffing and sagging interest from jobseekers.

Kevin Hart, CEO of industry body Restaurant and Catering Australia (R&CA), was recently quoted in Hospitality Magazine as saying the hospitality industry was projected to grow by almost 43,000 jobs to November 2017.

“Kitchen-hands, waiters, café and restaurant managers and chefs are the most in-demand occupations in the sector and will continue to be well beyond 2015,” Hart said.

For further details about the Skilled Occupation List, do head over to the official website.

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