The Federal Government has announced it is considering extending the 457 visa program to IT professionals in a bid to stop the growing skills shortage in the sector.

 

The visa, which was designed to service the demands of the mining sector, allows the employment of large pools of skilled labour on the condition of high value projects and a large pre-existing workforce.

 

The development of the 457 long-stay visa program came from the recommendation of the National Resource Sector Employment Taskforce. The Federal Government developed the visa with a  number of preconditions, such as the company applying for its use must have projects worth around $2 billion and employ over 1,200.

 

The only telecommunications company which meets the prerequisites is the National Broadband Network (NBN) Co.