New legislation will ensure that productions bringing people in to the country to work on Australian film and TV programs must demonstrate a net employment benefit for local crew and consult the union, according to the Media Entertainment & Arts Alliance.
The new legislation (Migration Amendment Regulation 2013 (No. 1) closes a loophole that was exploited by the global sports industry to wholly import overseas television crews for the Phillip Island Motorcycle GP, MotoGP, the President’s Cup Golf tournament and the Superbikes as well as the Oprah programme, the MEAA said.
“Victorian crew particularly felt the brunt of this exploitation of the visa system,” said Louise O’Connor, Victorian branch secretary. “Their strong feeling on this matter culminated in a demonstration last month outside the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. This new legislation will come as a great relief to the crew in our state.
“We have some of the most talented and skills production workers in the world– all willing and to step up to the plate and work on the next major televised international sporting event. These changes will bring great benefits to Australian workers and small businesses.”
The new regulations provide a strictly limited set of circumstances in which workers in the entertainment industry will be able to use a Subclass 400 visa and not a Subclass 420 visa including those working on television commercials that will never be shown in Australia and for those entertainers in Australia promoting a performance.