The Restaurant Association has welcomed the announcement from Minister Erica Stanford on changes to the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) process.
“These changes reflect a positive step forward and address several concerns raised by our members, particularly around wage thresholds, engagement requirements with MSD, and interim work rights for visa applicants,” said Marisa Bidois, CEO of the Restaurant Association.
Bidois said It was encouraging to see that work on streamlining the job check stage was still underway.
“This is one of the most pressing areas for hospitality employers, and we look forward to seeing solutions in place that reduce costs, simplify processes, and incorporate initiatives like the HospoCred accreditation programme to support accredited employers.”
She said that these updates had come at a very critical time for the foodservice sector as it has continued to grapple with workforce shortages. Bidois said the Restaurant Association has been clear about the changes needed to make the system more responsive to essential industry needs, and this announcement had signalled progress in that direction.
“We look forward to further engagement as the details are finalised and encourage the Government to maintain momentum on these changes. We are particularly pleased to see this work align with the priorities raised at the recent Hospitality Summit, where better collaboration between industry and Government was a central theme,” said Bidois.
“We will continue to keep our members informed as further details are released and ensure that the voice of the hospitality sector is heard throughout this process.”
This news has followed the successful hospitality industry summit held at Parliament last week, which was hosted by Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey. This outlined what the next steps of the industry should be, how research can help moving forward, and why there was a need to focus on nurturing the next generation of employees.
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