Brendan O'Connor signals 457 visa changes in effort to crack down on employers

Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor has foreshadowed changes to the foreign worker visa scheme that will make it easier to penalise breaches of the rules. "The holidaymaker visa and student visa are also important ways to provide labour to certain regions and to certain sectors," he said. "The 457 visa scheme, the temporary skilled scheme, is an essential part of those initiatives, but it must be one that maintains integrity. "We're not opposed to commonsense reforms and house-keeping of this important program, but we're just not going to buy in to this Government's vilification and abuse of those who come on 457s and skilled migrants."