EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Migration Regulations 1994
INSTITUTIONS AND DISCIPLINES FOR SUBCLASS 476
(SKILLED – RECOGNISED GRADUATE) VISAS
(Clause 476.212)
- This Instrument is made under clause 476.212 of the Migration Regulations 1994 (‘the Regulations’).
2. Clause 476.212 of the Regulations provides that the applicant must have (a) completed a course in the period of 24 months ending immediately before the day on which the application is made; and (b) at an institution specified by the Minister in an instrument in writing for the paragraph, for the award of a degree or higher qualification in a discipline specified in an instrument in writing for the clause.
3. This Instrument revokes Instrument number IMMI 10/053 signed on 17 September 2010. The purpose of the Instrument is to specify educational institutions, as well as Engineering as a discipline, for the purposes of paragraph 476.212. The new Instrument incorporates the addition of Washington Accord to the list of institutions.
4. The Instrument operates to increase numbers of graduate engineers working in Australia and address the current skills shortage in this occupation. The Instrument applies to persons applying for a subclass 476 visa who must have completed their engineering degree at a Recognised Institution as specified in the Instrument.
5. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Canadian High Commission, together with various mining and resource peak bodies and Engineers Australia, were consulted before the Instrument was made.
6. The Office of Best Practice Regulation has advised that a Regulation Impact Statement is not required (OBPR Reference 14127).
7. Under section 44 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 the Instrument is exempt from disallowance and therefore a Human Rights Statement of Compatibility is not required.
8. The instrument commences on 1 October 2012.