Employers are free to import foreign workers with a new 457 visa as long as they show that they have managed to hire Australians first in Australia.
The government this month revised its rules on the new 457 visa, now known as a "temporary skills shortage" visa, reversing a previous decision to ban job advertisements on social networks as a labour market test.
The test requires employers to demonstrate that they have prioritized the recruitment of Australians locally before choosing overseas workers.
At the end of 2017, 75610 overseas workers took 457 visas to work in Australia.
The new rules mean employers can advertise for local Australians only in two places: Jobactive and LinkedIn., the government's employment portal.
It is reported that the three-week LinkedIn job ads cost about 500 yuan, while Jobactive ads are free.
"retrogression" in the latest changes
Newman (Shayne Neumann), a Labour spokesman for immigration, said it was another "fallback" for the government, proving that its changes to Australia's skilled migration programme were "clumsy."
If Labour came to power, he said, it would identify the "real" skills it needed, and it would set up an independent skills assessment body.
The government announced major changes to the 457 immigration program last year, but since then, some adjustments have been made to the rebound in immigration and business.
These changes have led to a decrease in the number of 457 visas. In the year to March, 25,000 visas were granted to foreign workers, compared with 45,999 in 2016 / 17.
A spokeswoman for Duggie (Alan Tudge), the program's director, declined to comment on the LinkedIn changes, but stressed that the rules were intended to strike the right balance between prioritizing Australian employees and approving industry recruitment practices.
The government has accepted job ads on social media in the past, but the old requirements are unregulated.
Regulations introduced in March explicitly require employers to demonstrate that job advertisements covering Australia have been put in place over the past 12 months.
The change banned job ads on general classified advertising sites such as Twitter's (Twitter), Facebook, (Facebook), LinkedIn,Instagram, and Gumtree.
But by June, the government had re-accepted LinkedIn ads, and the delivery period had been shortened to six months.
LinkedIn is different from Gumtree.
Parcel (Wayne Parcell), immigration partner at Ernst & Young (EY), a professional services firm, said he welcomed the development.
"Policy makers may not know yet that, in addition to the contact network for personal data on LinkedIn, there are a number of LinkedIn paid recruitment sites used by many employers, including ASX-listed companies. And the service covers Australia like other recruitment sites. " He said。
He noted that the latest changes also allow for certain industry-specific recruitment sites, but that LinkedIn job advertisements that can only be seen by specific contacts, such as posts that are visible only on someone's network, are unacceptable.
Ryan (Kevin Lane), director of the Australian Immigration Institute's (Migration Institute of Australia), said the March changes had strengthened labour market testing, but banning advertising on LinkedIn was too much.
He thinks LinkedIn is often used to recruit senior management positions and is far more popular than Gumtree.
"paid LinkedIn ads may look better-only those who really want to hire people will use them." He said。
Programmer chefs, cooks and accountants are one of the most common professions in temporary foreign worker visa programs.