AUSTRALIAN meat processors and the National Farmers Federation are seeking urgent clarification of changes in visa processing priorities that could affect the ongoing availability of overseas skilled workers.

The red meat processing sector relies on overseas skilled workers, but under changes that came into effect on 25 July – Ministerial Direction 119 – the highest priority is now given to nomination and visa applications that support Australia’s law enforcement or defence interests.

The latest ministerial direction has replaced Ministerial Direction 105 that gave employer-sponsored regional positions the highest processing priority.

Under the new direction, most skilled visa applicants outside Australia who are not in defence or law enforcement now sit in the fourth and fifth processing priority category.

The Ministerial Direction 119 changes to visa processing priorities are expected to favour applicants who are already in Australia (onshore), while regionally-sponsored applicants who are offshore will experience longer wait times.

The Australian Meat Industry Council’s general manager for corporate affairs Jemma Harper said the meat processing industry is concerned that changes under Ministerial Direction 119 could result in longer visa processing times for overseas skilled workers, required to fill gaps in the availability of domestic workers.

“Skilled migration remains critical to maintaining processing capacity and ensuring the industry can be responsive to changes in seasonal conditions and livestock turnoff,” she said.

“This is not a minor administrative change.

“Many meat processors have invested significant time and money sponsoring skilled workers because those workers cannot be sourced locally,” Ms Harper said.

“Businesses have paid government fees, undertaken workforce planning and acted in good faith, and any move that pushes those workers further back in the visa queue creates uncertainty and places additional pressure on an already stretched workforce.

“The government cannot recognise these shortages, accept visa applications and processing fees, and then leave employers waiting indefinitely for the workers they need,” she said.

“AMIC is seeking urgent clarification on the details of Ministerial Direction 119 and will continue to advocate for visa processing arrangements that address ongoing skilled labour shortages.”

Also earlier this week the ABC first reported that the Department of Home Affairs had paused work and holiday visa subclass 462 applications without an announcement, with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke admitting the WHM visas were “being processed more slowly than they were previously”.

The WHM visa system operates with country-specific caps and the Working Holiday Maker Program website says that applications may be paused “when the cap is nearly filled or to spread out visa application lodgements throughout the program year. Lodgements may also be paused to support the Government’s migration settings while ensuring the program operates sustainably.”

The immigration changes have come as the Albanese Government comes under political pressure to cut net migration, but were made without consultation with the agricultural sector.

NFF also seeking clarity

National Farmers Federation chief executive officer Mike Guerin said any change that makes it harder or slower for farmers to access workers is a concern, particularly heading into the busy spring-summer period.

“Both skilled and unskilled migrants are critical to the farm workforce.

“Backpackers make up about 14pc of farm worker jobs, rising to 44pc in horticulture and they’re also important to grains (31pc), red meat (26pc) and cotton (25pc) during peak times,” Mr Guerin said.

“Backpackers don’t simply work in regional communities; they live and spend in them.

“Their wages are essential to the accommodation, hospitality, retail and tourism businesses, whose services make our regional communities more livable.”

Mr Guerin said the NFF is urgently seeking clarity on what these changes mean for agriculture and regional employers.

“We have written to Federal Ministers to raise our concerns and to seek an urgent meeting.

“We’ve also been in touch with the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry,” he said.

“More broadly, the NFF has consistently raised the need for practical and timely visa pathways for farm businesses, processors and regional communities.

“We will continue engaging with government, industry, and other peak bodies on this issue.”

Visa changes complicate industry competitiveness

One sheep meat processor said the sponsored visa changes would impact the industry as they had come just before the spring processing period and as the sector was experiencing a decline in demand due to previous high prices.

“It will have an influence on the industry.

“You can’t get people from the bush and that’s the one they hold up?”

Processors are also reporting that lamb is becoming hard to sell overseas and if meatworks could not access adequate labour to maintain plant throughputs this combined with lower end product prices can lift the unit cost within a sector already struggling in global competitiveness, according to a recent study.

Sheep Central has been told the pause in WHM visa processing is already impacting labour availability for farms that usually employed working holidays makers from countries such as Argentina and France.

Dairy sector also not consulted

The visa processing priority changes has also upset the dairy industry, with Australian Dairy Farmers president Ben Bennett stating the change was made without consultation or direct communication with the dairy industry.

He said the unintended consequences are significant.

“The government has changed the queue after farmers and skilled workers have already paid to get into it.

“Some dairy farmers have spent up to $12,000 finding, assessing and sponsoring skilled workers because those skills simply cannot be found locally,” he said.

“They have paid government fees, made workforce plans and acted in good faith.

“Now many of those workers who have been waiting for up to six months already, have been pushed to the bottom of the pile.”

Mr Bennett said the timing was particularly damaging during spring calving.

“Cows don’t wait for Home Affairs to process a visa.

“If the worker doesn’t arrive, the work falls back on the farmer, their family and existing staff,” he said.

“That means longer hours, more fatigue, greater risk of accident, lower productivity and greater food safety concerns at one of the busiest times of the year.”

Mr Bennett said farmers turn to migration because they cannot find the people with the right skills locally.

“Government cannot take money from farmers and visa applicants, recognise there is a genuine skills shortage, and then leave them high and dry.”