Australia Farm Worker Visa For agricultural workers seeking to work in Australia, there is a special visa available for this purpose. However, there are many questions regarding the Farm Worker Visa. Does IELTS need to be taken? How many occupations are available? Can an overseas national obtain permanent residency after only a few years? The answer to these questions may surprise you. In this article, we’ll explore what the Australian government is doing to address workforce shortages in the agriculture industry.
IELTS is mandatory for a Farm Worker’s Visa
If you wish to work as a farmhand in Australia, you must pass the IELTS test. The exam is a four-skill test that measures your English proficiency. You must score at least seven bands on each module. The test can be taken at nearly 50 test centers throughout Australia, including the capital cities and many regional towns. To prepare for the exam, you can use free resources online or download Official IELTS Practice Materials.
Your employment experience must be related to the nominated occupation. Whether you’ve worked for a local company for a year or are studying for a master’s degree, you need to have experience in the occupation. If you’ve already lived and worked in Australia for several years, you’ll earn 20 points on the overall IELTS test. If you’ve worked in the country for at least five years, you’ll need to show your skill in your job. Moreover, you must have a Bachelor’s degree, a Master’s degree, or a higher-level qualification.
There are 31 occupations eligible for the visa
The Australia Farm Worker Visa is designed to bring seasonal and skilled workers to Australian farms. Seasonal workers are able to work in any region of the country, with the exception of some regional regions. Some of the jobs they can do include harvesting, general maintenance of crops, and packing and processing the harvest. Other seasonal jobs may include fishing, pearling, shearing, and construction work.
In order to apply for this visa, an Australian employer must have offered a position for you. You must also have an IELTS score of at least 5.5. The applicant must have a minimum of two years’ experience in the occupation. The visa requires a minimum of five bands in IELTS, and it is a four-year visa. The visa will begin accepting applications in 2020.
No foreign country has agreed to participate in the program
In order to attract workers to Australia’s agricultural industries, the Australian government has introduced a new agriculture visa program aimed at Pacific and Southeast Asian workers. It was introduced to address labor shortages in the agricultural sector and has committed to providing pathways toward permanent residency for program participants. In addition, the program will support regional settlement and resettlement. It is expected to become fully operational in 2022.
Under the new visa, agricultural businesses can employ workers from nine Pacific islands and the Timor-Leste region to work on farms in the Australian agricultural industry. These workers can take seasonal employment for up to nine months and long-term roles of one to four years. This program fills labor shortages in rural Australia and allows workers from the Pacific and Timor-Leste to earn an income and send it back to their home countries.
Australian government’s response to workforce shortages in agriculture
The response to the Australian government’s vision of a business-centered economy is essential to ensuring the continued safety and sustainability of Australia’s food supply and future growing seasons. A new visa targeting south-east Asian workers has been scrapped, but Labor’s plan aims to increase participation in agriculture by Pacific islanders. It also includes new incentives for farmers to hire Pacific island workers. These initiatives will help address the shortages of agricultural labor.
One way the government is responding to the workforce crisis in agriculture is to offer a streamlined, one-time regularisation process for those who are undocumented. This will allow these workers to legally work on Australian farms and will address both the labor shortage and the exploitation dimension of the problem. In addition, it will allow these workers to move freely and help ethical growers access a skilled workforce.
