Independent MP Rob Oakeshott has said he will not be supporting the bill.

Legislation to change the 457 visa scheme is hanging in the balance, with the government reliant on the support of key independent MPs for the bill to pass.

Labor wants to crack down on what it calls “widespread rorting” of the system but one MP is looking for more proof before voting to pass the legislation.

“I’d be leaning towards no, and the government knows that,” independent Rob Oakeshott told the ABC.

“As yet the rhetoric of widescale rorting of 457 visas does not look to be matched by any reality of actual problems, if they can prove that up, please provide it. But to date they haven’t.”

Meanwhile, independent MP Tony Windsor says he has not yet made up his mind about how he will vote, although he told ABC radio that he has reservations about the wording of the bill.

The Coalition is set to vote against the bill and as a result the government needs support from five of the seven crossbenchers. Liberal MP Don Randall yesterday branded it the “most racist” piece of legislation he had ever seen.

Debate on the bill continues in parliament today and the government is hoping it will be passed before the parliament rises at the end of next week.

If passed it will force employers to prove they had tried to recruit locals first when hiring an overseas worker on a 457 visa.

But sponsors would be exempt from the extensive labour marketing testing if the worker holds a degree or has five years of experience.

The bill also includes an amendment to give workers 90 days to find a new job, instead of the current period of 28 days.

It gives powers to Fair Work inspectors to investigate compliance within the programme, activity currently undertaken by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

Business groups have opposed plans to tighten the scheme but many unions support the measures, first mooted by Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor in February.

“The government has concerns that some employers are turning to overseas workers first, rather than investing in local training and recruitment,” Mr O’Connor said in a speech to parliament, earlier this month.

“There has also been evidence of some sponsors paying overseas workers below the market rate, failing to commit to training requirements of the programme, and using the visa to fraudulently help friends and family migrate.”

The latest figures for the scheme show 8,680 of the four-year work visas were granted to Irish citizens for the financial year to April.

If passed the legislation will take effect on July 1.

Queensland is falling behind other Australian states as a preferred destination for Irish workers on 457 visas, figures show.

A total of 5,590 primary 457 visas were granted to Irish citizens for the financial year to April 30.

Primary visa grants refer to people who applied for sponsorship on their own behalf while secondary applicants are those attached to partners’ applications.

The number of Irish workers granted sponsorship with companies in Queensland fell by just under 4 per cent, compared to the previous financial year.

Western Australia remains the most popular destination for Irish citizens joining the 457 visa scheme.

New South Wales has traditionally attracted the majority of Irish workers on the scheme but WA has now captured almost 40 per cent of the new migrants.

Some 2,130 are based in WA, while NSW is home to 1,520 people granted the visa.

The figures for South Australia doubled to 140 compared to last year. Victorian employers sponsored 900 Irish workers and Queensland 710.

Canberra and surrounds attracted 60 new Irish people on primary visas, while 110 were sponsored in the Northern Territory and 20 in Tasmania.

Just under 14 per cent of all Irish 457 visa workers in Australia are based in Queensland, the figures show.

The number of visas granted in NSW fell 6.3 per cent compared to the previous financial year, but in WA they rose by 26.2 per cent.

The latest round of figures released by the government show that 3,100 secondary applications were attached to the primary grants, making up a total of 8,680 new visas.

This figure represents 8.3 per cent of the all applications – making Ireland the third largest contributor to the scheme behind India and Britain.

The number of 457 primary visa applications lodged was 6.8 per cent higher than the same timeframe last year. But the number of visas actually granted was just 1.7 per cent higher.

The number of onshore primary visa lodgements rose by 27.4 per cent and the overall number of primary visa holders was 20.4 per cent higher than in April 2012.

There is a general downward trend since applications hit a peak in August 2012 but the number of Irish people on the 457 scheme continues to grow.

Overall the level of applications are falling from Britain, the United States, Canada, Germany and South Africa compared to last year. But applications from Ireland, India, China, South Korea, Nepal and Italy are still showing significant growth.

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor said the laws will deter those abusing the system.

New legislation to change the 457 visa scheme includes an amendment to give workers 90 days to find a new job, instead of the current period of 28 days.

The Australian government has introduced a bill after months of debate about alleged abuses within the programme, which allows skilled workers and their dependants to be sponsored by businesses for up to four years.

Business groups have opposed plans to tighten the scheme, first mooted by Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor in February.

The government and unions have claimed the scheme is subject to widespread abuse, claims tested at a recent Senate hearing into the efficacy of the programme.

The provision to extend period that a 457 worker can remain in Australia after ceasing employment with a sponsor is a boost for temporary workers.

If passed, the legislation will take effect on July 1 and the 90 days amendment will apply to visa granted from this date.

In a speech to parliament today, Mr O’Connor described the extension as “enabling a more socially just outcome for visa holders as they will have more time to find an alternative job with an employer sponsor or to arrange their personal affairs at the conclusion of sponsored employment.”

He said it was in line with recommendations of a 2008 review into the integrity of the scheme and more recent recommendations contained within a report from the Migration Council of Australia.

The bill also seeks to enforce in law extensive labour market testing conditions, which require employers to show they have tried to fill vacancies with local staff before seeking to sponsor an overseas worker.

It gives powers to Fair Work inspectors to investigate compliance with the programme, activity currently undertaken by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor outlined the bill’s main thrust in a speech to parliament.

“The government has concerns that some employers are turning to overseas workers first, rather than investing in local training and recruitment,” Mr O’Connor told parliament.

“There has also been evidence of some sponsors paying overseas workers below the market rate, failing to commit to training requirements of the programme, and using the visa to fraudulently help friends and family migrate.”

He said the bill would expand the government’s capacity to “detect and take action against sponsors who do the wrong thing and ensure that overseas workers are not used as a substitute for Australian workers”.

It is understood the government hopes to pass the bill in the final two sitting weeks of parliament.

The latest figures for the scheme show 8,680 of the four-year work visas were granted to Irish citizens for the financial year to April.

The government’s decision to double the cost of applying for a 457 visa is disappointing but not unexpected, given its inflammatory rhetoric about the scheme in recent months.

From July 1, sponsors will have to pay a visa application charge of $900 instead of the current $455. The government forecasts this will raise $198 million over four years.

The government will also impose a fee for those who attach dependent partners or children to their applications – but it has not said how much.

The Irish Echo has learned fees for 25 other subclasses will also rise by between five and 15 per cent in July but, for now, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) will not give more specifics.

The 457 fee hike may not hit would-be migrants directly (although some employers do pass on the costs of sponsorship), it might lead to fewer opportunities for workers to gain sponsorship as businesses take a longer and harder look at the pros and cons.

At face value, workers with families could be disadvantaged more as the cost of their sponsorships will be greater than single workers’ and those with a partner.

With the programme being held hostage to a chest-beating debate about local and foreign labour, many employers could be forgiven for steering clear altogether. That would be a pity.

The move has already elicited concern from the National Farmers’ Federation, which describes it as “disincentive to employers to pursue the applications”.

The Gillard government has now slugged visa-holders with substantial price hikes for two successive budgets.

DIAC figures show 2,500 to 4,500 people a month progressed to permanent residency between March 2011 and March 2013. Labor can only hope those who move on to citizenship will suffer from short memories when they cast their maiden votes.

The government did not provide rationale for the budget night price hike. With no impending electoral cost, why would it? DIAC has stated several times demand for 457s has been softening since August 2012. So this was not a price increase designed to respond to increasing demand.

While the government is quick to raise costs, it is slow to address flaws within the scheme, many of which leave temporary workers and their families exposed.

For now, Labor postures about the visa scheme on the basis of electoral whim and with a creeping fear of its own unseating come September 14. It seems unwilling to accept data or counsel. On several occasions, members of the government’s own ministerial advisory council criticised its rhetoric about the 457 visa programme.

But experts and immigration stakeholders are often ignored, dismissed or forced to put up with having their research cherry-picked for political gain.

Take the recent Migration Council of Australia (MCA) report into the 457 visa, released days before the budget. It debunked Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor’s “guess” about 10,000 rorts within the system. The MCA found rorts were rare and just two per cent of workers were underpaid.

But the minister seized on the fact that a quarter of respondents had not chosen to answer a survey question about wages to hint at wider rorting.

All the while, real problems with the scheme are left to fester. Key recommendations from the 2008 Deegan Review have not been implemented, including one that advises the government to give visa-holders more than 28 days to find a new sponsor. The MCA report also called on the government to implement this particular change.

Regrettably, anything that can be perceived as a concession to foreign workers seems unlikely.

TWU national secretary Tony Sheldon addressed yesterday’s public hearing.

The head of the Transport Workers Union has told a senate inquiry into 457 visas it received 24 reports of abuse within the scheme in the past two months.

The union’s national secretary Tony Sheldon addressed a public hearing on the scheme yesterday and claimed visa holders were afraid to complain about employers for fear of deportation.

The four-year 457s are temporary residence visas offered to skilled workers and their dependants who are sponsored by an Australian company.

Challenged on government and union claims of widespread rorting, Mr Sheldon said the human rights of the 100,000 visa workers in Australia are being exploited.

Mr Sheldon is also the Labor Party’s national vice-president.

Yesterday, the inquiry also heard from the ACTU, CFMEU, CEPU, the Migration Institute of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Law Council of Australia and the Australian Mines and Metals Association.

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor’s claims of widespread rorting were also tested at yesterday’s hearing when the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) revealed it did not provide advice to him prior to his claim of 10,000 abuses within the system.

Mr O’Connor, who flagged a tightening of the programme in February, later said the figure was based on a forecast.

Senior DIAC official Kruno Kukoc told the hearing that when the department comes across evidence of abuse it acts upon it.

A number of written submissions to the inquiry have called for an amendment to the 28-day rule, which sees workers given four weeks to find a new sponsor or leave Australia.

When asked about such calls, a spokeswoman for Mr O’Connor told the Irish Echo that he is considering a range of recommendations put forward by stakeholders to improve the 457 visa system and will announce further changes to the programme in the near future.

Approximately 7,970 Irish nationals and their dependants have been granted 457 visas in the financial year to March 30, accounting for just over 8 per cent of all applications granted.

:: Visa fees

Elsewhere, it has emerged that impending price rises for a range of visa subclasses have yet to be rubber-stamped.

The government doubled the cost of a 457 visa application in the recent budget.

Plans to introduce fees for dependants on a 457 visa application and increase fees for up to 25 visa subclasses are scheduled to take effect in July, following the introduction of a ‘user-pays’ model by former Immigration Minister Chris Bowen in November 2011.

However, DIAC and the Immigration Minister’s office have not provided further details of the fee increases.

“While some fees are scheduled to increase in line with the November 2011 announcement, these changes have not yet been ratified by the Federal Executive Council. The Council needs to sign off on these changes before they become effective, and before any public announcements can be made,” Minister O’Connor’s spokeswoman said.

The Federal Executive Council gives legal effect to cabinet decisions.

Claire Calvey and husband John have taken their five children to Paraburdoo, a small mining town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

In March, I wrote about how my husband John had lost his job as a project manager. He was on a 457 visa, which meant we would have to leave Australia within 28 days if he couldn’t find another sponsor, and things were looking bleak.

He had been working a fly-in fly-out roster – meaning effectively I was a single parent to my five children for three quarters of the time – and I absolutely loathed it. In fact I had very mixed feelings about whether I wanted to stay in Australia at all; many of the boxes and suitcases that had been shipped half way around the world a year earlier remained packed.

It wasn’t just FIFO that was the problem. Our rented house in the beautiful Perth hills was far too small for a family of seven, but due to cripplingly high rents and the fact no sane landlord was willing to rent out a property to that many kids, we were stuck in it. Things weren’t exactly ideal.

However, when John lost his job, the question of finding another one – and fast – became far more urgent than the issue of a tiny house or a FIFO roster.

The Perth job market isn’t too buoyant at present. John spoke to dozens of agents and companies but there was a lot of bluster and very little action. Give it time, people told us. But time was the one luxury we couldn’t afford. Lead after lead came to nothing and the clock was ticking loudly.

Eventually, he was offered an FIFO role up on Barrow Island, on a three- and-one roster, and although this was far from ideal I grudgingly agreed he should take it.

Then serendipity stepped in. Out of the blue a recruitment agent phoned to ask was there any chance he would be interested in relocating up to the Pilbara. A job had come up in the small mining town of Paraburdoo, the company was willing to sponsor the successful candidate, and even better – it came with a rent-free house!

We didn’t even need to discuss it. Two interviews later he was offered the job and we started packing.

Oscar (10), Rufus (6), Hugo (2), Jude (8), and Emily (12), are happy in Paraburdoo.

And so three weeks ago we made the 18-hour drive north, a fascinating and arduous journey through a shifting landscape which couldn’t make up its mind – rolling hills and blackened trees gave way to red rock and scrubby bushland as we sped through the Tropic of Capricorn and towards our new lives.

Paraburdoo was originally built to support local mining projects, and most people here are connected to the industry. The place is small, friendly and no one locks their house.

The children can walk to school or the playground without my supervision. They can play in the streets without fear of strangers or speeding vehicles.

Life here is simple and safe. Basically we’ve moved to 1962 with a broadband connection.

There is one supermarket which is serviced by the “big truck” every Wednesday, and it is wise to stock up on milk and bread by Saturday if you don’t want to run out. The nearest town is 80km away. Target? Five hours.

Our new home faces on to bushland. I must admit I feel a little “off the hook” from the pressures of modern living, at least for a while.

Recently, we headed over to the town pool for a twilight swim. We had the whole place to ourselves – the locals claim it’s too cold at this time of year – and we thanked our lucky stars we got another chance with Australia.

So, it all worked out in the end, but we will apply for permanent residency as soon as possible; we don’t intend to be in such a vulnerable position again.

So here’s to a new chapter and a fresh start on this massive island we currently call home.

Read more from Claire Calvey on her blog www.chroniclesofatrailingspouse.com 

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor.

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor’s recent claim of over 10,000 abuses of the 457 visa scheme is based on an estimate, he has said.

There are currently 105, 600 people working in Australia on 457 visas, some 12, 190 of whom are Irish nationals.

“I was asked to sort of give an estimate, and that is my estimate,” he told ABC radio, after the opposition and industry groups sought evidence.

“I’m making a forecast. I’m making a forecast like others have made forecasts. The difference is I seem to be being challenged, fine.

“My point is this – there are transgressions, they’re more than a few, they’re more than negligible.

“So, you know, I’ve sought to estimate what I think is the appropriate number. We don’t have an exact, precise figure. That’s not possible under the current arrangements, but it is significant and I make no apology in fixing a scheme that has problems.”

Meanwhile, an immigration report that found the 457 programme needs to be tightened has found little evidence of widespread abuse, as claimed.

The discussion paper was released to the coalition following a freedom of information request. It was prepared for Mr O’Connor’s predecessor, Chris Bowen.

Coalition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison told ABC’s PM programme yesterday that the report did not back up government claims.

“It certainly doesn’t anywhere justify the sort of inflammatory rhetoric and trash talking of skilled migration that the Prime Minster and Minister O’Connor have engaged in, nor does it in any way provide any evidentiary basis for the sort of claims they’ve made about 10,000 people rorting the system and so on,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Mr O’Connor has said the paper is not “the sole determinant of the government’s decisions”.

Minister O’Connor has indicated he plans to introduce legislation to amend the visa scheme this month.

The government is also understood to be planning a series of radio advertisements to promote its campaign to put local workers before migrants.

Some 22 submissions have been made to a senate committee looking into the efficacy of the 457 visa programme.

Industry bodies are extremely concerned about the political debate surrounding the 457 visa scheme, with claims that it has even invoked “racist sentiment”.

A senate committee has been charged with investigating the popular programme for temporary workers and so far 22 submissions have been received from a range of groups including academics, migration experts and industry representatives.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated that it has become increasingly alarmed at the recent public commentary and that the 457 visa scheme has become subjected to a series of unsubstantiated claims.

The chamber claims that the scheme has been used to “invoke parochial and even racist sentiment with claims of foreign workers “stealing” jobs from unemployed Australians.”

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor recently claimed there were more than 10,000 abuses of the system and that there would be 350,000 temporary workers from overseas on 457 visas in Australia in three years time if demand continued at the current rate.

However, the chamber pointed out that the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) reports few cases of abuse with 125 employers sanction in 2011/2012 with a further 449 employers formally warned.

“In any scheme, there will always be a small minority that don’t play by the rules. The government, with the full support of employers out there doing the right thing, should target those rule breakers through rigourous enforcement rather than reducing access to employers meeting the requirements.

“Since August 2012, the 457 visa trend has been downward, so concerns about alarming growth are unfounded, as are exaggerated claims of rorts and projections of visa numbers being over 300,000. This is unnecessarily alarmist, and a rational, evidence based discussion needs to return,” it stated.

The Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) also sent in a strongly worded submission, which argued that the “recent demonisation of 457 workers is extremely damaging.”

AMMA believes that the misleading depictions of 457 workers has tarnished Australia’s reputation as an open economy ready to do business with the world.

“The depiction that skilled migrants as foreigners that need to be “put at the back of the queue” and that Australians are being “discriminated against”, is base rhetoric that borders dog-whistling and invites allegations of industrial xenophobia,” the submission states.

They pointed out that it is up to $60,000 more expensive to employ a foreign worker than an Australian and that AMMA members have struggled to recruit their entire workforce locally as people are reluctant to relocate to remote regions.

“There have been incentive programmes run by government offering to pay for relocation for the long term unemployed to the resource rich areas, but these schemes have struggled for want of applicants. Money alone cannot lure essential skills to remote areas if the skills are not extant in this country, or the people with those skills will not relocate to where the skills are in demand from the resource industry,” AMMA states.

AMMA point out that 457 visa holders account for 2.3 per cent of the mining industry workforce and that they play a statistically small but essential niche role in the industry.

Consult Australia, which represents businesses in the areas of engineering, architecture and design, argued in its submission that skilled migration programs are essential to the health of engineering-based companies and the Australian economy.

“If the facility to quickly and efficiently recruit temporary skilled migrants did not exist, the Australian economy would cease to function as we know it,” the group states in their submission.

“Politicians, unions and industry associations easily forget that the public in general, workers and business owners in particular do not see what is, to us, simply political posturing.”

The Transport Workers’ Union, which represents 90,000 workers, states it doesn’t oppose the use of the scheme but believe it should only be used for genuine shortages. The Union has reported a 21 per cent increase in 457 visas granted in the transport, postal and warehousing industries over the past year.

“The ongoing public debate on migration to Australia, particularly the 457 visa scheme, forces us to consider the type of society we want in Australia. While we don’t oppose the use of 457 visas we do believe that it is there for genuine shortages and not for employers to exploit workers,” the union states.

“The TWU has been vocal on the manipulation of the 457 visa scheme by unscrupulous employers who have used this as a means to exploit foreign workers, evade their responsibility to educate and train locals and to undercut Australian companies that play by the rules.

“As we are seeing an explosion of “demand” for foreign workers without the proper labour market testing to determine whether demand and supply are in equilibrium. This is a deliberate undermining of Australian labour rights, conditions and wages.

“Without changes to tighten up the current system, the abuse will only continue and it will be the Australian workers and their families that will suffer.”

Aoife Nolan had a stressful first five months of pregnancy after her local hospital refused to provide maternity care.

A heavily pregnant Irishwoman on a 457 visa has spoken out about the reciprocal health cover agreement (RHCA) between Ireland and Australia, claiming there is a lack of clarification and understanding, especially when it comes to antenatal care.

Aoife Nolan, a Cork native who now lives in Bunbury, Western Australia, said she had an incredibly stressful first five months of pregnancy, following her local hospital’s refusal to provide her with maternity care.

Irish citizens on a 457 visa are ineligible for Medicare and are obliged to arrange private health insurance. However, Irish health insurers apply a 12-month waiting period before covering pregnancy.

While Bunbury Hospital acknowledged that Ms Nolan would be entitled to treatment if it was deemed “medically necessary”, the mother of one said it is not acceptable that antenatal care did not appear to fit that criteria.

“If I turn up for labour it’s deemed medically necessary and they have to take me. My issue was not with that, it was with antenatal care, because the hospital was essentially saying that it’s not medically necessary and I beg to differ, I do think it is medically
necessary,” she said.

Ms Nolan said  the cost of attending a GP for blood tests and antenatal care was ludicrous, and it seems there is one rule for one hospital and a different rule for another.

Things worsened when the hospital asked Ms Nolan to write a letter to convince them she was a genuine case and had not flown into the country just to give birth.

Ms Nolan thought this was laughable, considering she has been in the country for some years and was not pregnant when she arrived.

After refusing to write the letter, Ms Nolan then decided to go higher up and made contact with Kim Hames, the WA Minister for Health.

Mr Hames’s response read: “You are entitled to receive medically necessary treatment in public hospitals on the same basis as Australian residents. According to the advice from the Commonwealth government, this entitlement includes being able to access services for the birth of your child.

“The DOH advises that your situation, in being both a 457 visa holder and from a country with which Australia has a RHCA, is not one that has often been encountered.

“It is understandable that there may have been some confusion at Bunbury Hospital regarding your eligibility. The DOH advises it will seek to ensure that hospitals are made aware of the eligibility for services of persons in your circumstances.”

After months of arguing face-to-face, over the phone and in person with
officials, Ms Nolan has now decided to have a home birth, where she will be provided with free antenatal care.

“If I hadn’t opted for a home birth I would still be fighting with the
hospital,” she said.

The Corkwoman believes a memo needs to go out to all operations directors in Perth and regional hospitals, stating the guidelines for 457-visa holders and pregnancy.

Mr O’Connor plans to introduce legislation this month to change the 457 programme.

Almost 8,000 Irish people and their dependants have been granted 457 visas this financial year, according to Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) figures.

The four-year 457s are temporary residence visas offered to skilled workers and their dependants who are sponsored by an Australian company.

The figures for the financial year to the end of March show the number of applications for the visa rose by seven per cent over the same period in the previous year.

However, DIAC’s latest monthly summary report notes that overall demand for the temporary work visa has been on a downward trend since August.

Approximately 7,970 Irish nationals and their dependants have been granted 457 visa so far this financial year, accounting for just over 8 per cent of all applications granted.

Only India (21 per cent) and the United Kingdom (19.8 per cent) have contributed more workers to the scheme.

Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland are the states of choice for the majority of Irish workers on the visa.

As of March 31, there were 105,600 people on 457 visas in Australia, some 12,190 of whom were Irish nationals.

Politically, the 457 visa programme remains a source of debate in advance of a federal election on September 14.

Yesterday, Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor claimed there had been over 10,000 abuses of the system.

”Insofar as numbers, I believe that the areas where there’s been an illegitimate use of 457s numbers [is] not negligible,” he said.

”I would say it would exceed over 10,000,” he said.

Citing the latest visa figures, he said the number of the lowest paid 457 visa holders has almost doubled since last year.

Mr O’Connor said the figures highlight that despite a slight recent decline in the growth rate in the visa, 457 visa numbers are continuing to increase.

“If demand for these visas continues at the current growth rate, there would be 350,000 temporary workers from overseas on 457 visas in Australia in three years’ time,” he said.

“That’s more than the population of Wollongong and at a time when locals are looking for training and promotion opportunities, this growth is unsustainable.

“It’s particularly concerning that the areas with the biggest rates of growth are those with the lowest paid workers – accommodation and food services which has grown by 99 per cent and retail which has grown by 75 per cent when compared to the 2011-12 programme year.

“These two industries are the lowest paying of all sponsor industries,” he said.

The average base salary for 457 visa holders was $55,000 for accommodation and food services workers and $69,000 for retail workers.

Of the other 17 industries for which data is provided in the report, average salaries range from $69,800 for agriculture, forestry and fishing, to $118,700 in mining.

ABS figures for November 2012 show that the average full-time adult salary for private and public sector workers is $72,436.

The government plans to introduce legislation to amend the visa scheme this month, Mr O’Connor has said.

The Labor government is understood to be planning a series of radio advertisements to promote its campaign to put local workers before migrants.

Recently, the Irish Echo reported that thousands of workers each year are moving to different employers while on the 457 visa.