Visa Pathways For Outdoor Guides

Parents are asking for more than grades, they want real visibility into how their kids are going socially and behaviorally at school, and they want answers fast. We walk through new McCrindle Research on communicating with today’s parents, including the channels that cut through (email still wins), what frustrates families (too many apps, too much irrelevant info), and the response times many now expect. If you run outdoor education programs, camps, or school-based experiences, these insights matter because trust is built in the small updates, not just the end-of-term report.

Then we switch to the other big pressure point our sector can’t ignore: staffing. With outdoor guide shortages still extreme, migration lawyer Liz from Welcome Legal maps the visa landscape in plain English, focusing on what employers must do to stay compliant. We talk practical work rights verification, VEVO checks, contract clauses, planning ahead for visa expiries, and why bridging visas can change what you see in the system.

Liz also outlines common pathways and pitfalls across visitor visas, student visa work limits, partner visas, working holiday rules, short stay specialist options, and employer-sponsored routes like the Skills in Demand 482 and Employer Nomination Scheme 186. We finish with a grounded Q&A on role wording, sponsorship timing, and where to start if you’re trying to bring a skilled outdoor professional to Australia. If this helped, subscribe, share with a colleague who hires guides, and leave a review so more outdoor employers can find it.

Transcript

Welcome And Community Updates

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Welcome to the Outdoors New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum. Where ideas thrive, collaborations spark, and our industry comes together to grow. Let's connect, share, and make an impact. This episode is recorded live with our professional outdoor friends and provided post-event as a resource for the outdoor industry.

SPEAKER_03 0:28

Good morning everyone. Welcome to another Connect and Share with Outdoors New South Wales and ACT, episode 25 of season four, as we get closer to spring. Although we like to see that white stuff falling in the mountains at the moment on this 6th of August, can I please pay my respects to all our traditional owners, past, present, and emerging, and uh certainly acknowledge the lands on which we all work and connect with our First Nations culture and thank them for the care that they've put in to our place. And here's a fabulous place that I visited this week. I was absolutely um gobsmacked at the beautiful things that Pinball Ladies College have been doing at Vision Valley. So I thought I'd share them with you to show you some magnificent outdoor classroom spaces that uh have been developed for the girls at Pinball Ladies College and all those that uh partake in activities at Vision Valley based in Arcadia, Northwest Sydney. Uh, well done to Nick and the crew, and Nick has been assigned as head of campus. So, congratulations, Nick, for that appointment. And we look forward to continue working with the team to get more kids outdoors in outdoor education. This week was the launch of our Pinnacle Leadership Program number three. So we have 30 amazing mentees, 30 amazing mentors. Jump on to our first session of Cohort 3. A great start to this program. Uh next week, I'll share with you the data and the research from Victoria University on our Pinnacle Leadership Program and what it's actually doing for our industry. So stay tuned on that one.

What Parents Want From Schools

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Now I just thought I'd share what I learned this week from McCrindle Research. There is some new research available for we can look at uh how we communicate better with our parents. So this is for you educators out there and those also that uh need to send information to parents about the programs that you offer. So I'll just quickly run through some uh key tips for you all. And this is because we are seeing a different change in how we respond to uh communication today. And certainly um back in probably when I was at school or even my kids were at school, we had a one option to talk with teachers, parent-teacher interviews, one-off opportunity to talk about the feedback on how they're progressing in their school socially, education, etc. But now parents are expecting a lot more contact around uh how their children are progressing through the school environment. And again, not just in uh in educational terms, but all different terms. And I'll go through some of that data now for you. So, what do you see? Um, the parents were asked uh, what do you want to know most about? So, if the parents or the teachers are communicating with the parents, uh, what do you want to know, parents? And this is what they said. First and foremost, they want to know about their behavior and social updates, that being number one. Uh, second to grades and academic results. So, really interesting that that is playing uh high on the scale of what parents want to know. Uh, end of school return return reports, of course, come next, detailed uh teacher feedback, right through to just short daily snapshots is probably the bottom one there. So interesting to see that behavior and social updates being incredibly important for parents. How would you like to receive it? Email was the preferred. Uh, I know teachers do complain about not getting responses from emails, but certainly parents are indicating that that is uh primarily the best way to contact parents today, followed by in-person parent meetings. Um, but what was really interesting as this progressed is um the the option to talk about only uh everyday items, not just when there's a problem. So parents are pleas seeking out teachers to be more open to communication, not when there's just a problem, but for all different aspects. And that probably comes through in that earlier graph where it talks about what their behavior is and their social um environments and how they're interacting with that. So it doesn't always have to be on the negative side. Um, certainly they're saying there's too many different apps and platforms uh which they've got to sign into. So, you know, I think every school's got an app these days, and uh, as we know, passwords become a problem in anything that we have to deal with with our subscriptions. So certainly parents are feeling the tension there, and they'd just like that email as an easy response, and that's why that was high on the agenda. Um, they're also saying on getting too much information that's not relevant to them. So the more tailored uh we can make our communications, parents are telling us we will cut through. So interesting content there. Um, this was probably the most uh frightening aspect, I think, for teachers was about the response time that was expected uh by our parents. 21% expected a response on the same school day. So within the hours of school, the day I sent it, I expect a response by the end of that day. But overwhelmingly, 45% said definitely in the next business day. If we looked at just the independent school sector, that went up to 74%. So if a parent is sending a teacher an email, they're expecting highly that response within 24 hours. A challenging environment for teachers when they're trying to navigate everything that they're doing in the school environment and do the communications as well. So, what does a partnership mean to parents? It's a two-sided communication, clear avenues to get that feedback, that they're equipped with the information on what the child is learning so that they can help reinforce that at home. But school staff feel genuinely approachable, that's what they're really seeking. So, yeah, I think the lesson from this data is certainly that we've got to be more open and setting the expectations of communication, what is possible, what's not possible, and having a two-way stream that is both positive and potentially negative, but uh having that option of open communication. So, again, thanks, McCrindle, for some great research, which is very relevant to our space. And if you want to download the report, you can get that on the McCrindle.com website, and it's called Communicating with Today's Parents. As you can see, there's a lot of other amazing uh tools there, which uh, if you go back in our Connected Share episodes, you probably get most of the content from our forums.

Surveys And Member Deadlines

SPEAKER_03 7:27

Okay, so other news. Karen Weird from the Duke of Ed Department of Officer Sport will be coming and talking to all our members on the 21st of August. So if you do Duke of Ed programs, this is an essential meeting. So make sure you go back into your members' newsletter, register for that meeting so you can come along and ask the questions that need to be asked to help you in the Duke of Ed. The other thing that you need to know is the vet course uh is still open for review. So uh, in discussing with human ability the limited time frame we had, uh they have agreed very kindly to extend that feedback time for an extra two weeks. So if you haven't managed to get your feedback in on the outdoor leadership qualification and what that looks like, um, so you can now do it for uh it's another week and a half. So you've got that time to feed that in, and we encourage you to do so because we need this to be the best qualification uh it is for our industry. A reminder about the NATCOR survey, this is an important Jeffrey. Did you have a question on that one?

SPEAKER_01 8:35

I have a comment. I was in another meeting yesterday, and people were concerned. But if I can't get all my feedback into that space that's provided there, you can also email directly at the email email or online consultation page.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

Absolutely. Thank you for raising that. That's really important because if there is generic feedback, yeah, it's very hard to put into the format on the portal. I agree. Thank you for raising that. Really appreciate that. Awesome. So on the reminder of the NATCORS survey, this is the National Center of Risk and Readiness, looking at weather impacts, uh, severe weather, and uh our forecasting. They're wanting to know from you what you would like from them in the next three years. So, is there some more training? Is there some more events? Is there some elements that can support you in doing your outdoor work where NATCOR could help? So, please, if you want to scan that QR code, it will take you to the survey, which closes on the 4th of September. Another survey, which is incredibly important, will take a little bit longer, but here we are with the Bureau of Meteorology's Severe Weather and Society survey. So, in combination with NATCOR, there is some work being done on better forecasting for our industry. This survey will help carve that out to make sure it is relevant for us. So it will take between 20 and 30 minutes. So if you've got a spare half hour, I encourage you to scan that one too and fill that survey out to help really fast track, I suppose, some of our forecasting needs. What's coming up? Okay, Census Night. The data nerds in all of us are really excited about the 11th of August. So this is the opportunity where we can tell the government all about what who we are, what we do, uh to help really plan for a better Australia. So I've got a tip in a minute for our industry, but please make sure you complete your census on Census Night. The Top Tour Guide Awards is on the following night where we have some outstanding paddlers up for the top tour guide of New South Wales. I'll give you all that uh news next week. The vet feedback closes on the 16th of August. We've got another Careers Expo coming up, and dynamic motivations celebrate their 15th birthday on the 13th of September. And don't forget, we've got two outstanding programs. We've got the uh Facilitate Within 10 course in early September, and we've got the lead within 10 course in mid-September. So if you've got some staff that you want trained up in either facilitation or leadership, they are the courses to look for. And then the National Outdoor Education Conference in Cairns will be from the 28th of September, the World Trails Conference on the 20th of October in Perth, and then the Australian Regional Tourism Convention straight after that weekend. We have Sea Otter, our award winner of Adventure Event of the Year, we'll be hosting in Bateman's Bay.

Census Wording That Protects Funding

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Now back to the census. For all you people in the outdoor industry, please take note that your words are very, very important. So if you are in the industry and you are a guide, we need you to speak to the outdoor adventure leader or outdoor adventure guide words, because then it gets picked up in our industry. If you write educator, it will pick up that you are in a school. It will go to the school sector. And we want to make sure that we are showcasing our employees the best we can in this census. This is our opportunity with the new Oscar code that's been formed, which I'm sure Liz will talk to as well, which is outdoor adventure leader or guide. And as we know, this is on the uh the skills shortage list. So it's really important that we count everyone in this particular industry so we can uh start really advocating for the volume that we have. So please take note, everyone.

Visa Options For Outdoor Employers

SPEAKER_03 12:44

So this morning we have the amazing Liz, who I ran into down in Canberra from Welcome Legal, who's going to take us through some of the things that we need to know as we start looking at visa, visas for all our gaps, as we know. Our latest census really indicated our shortage on outdoor guides is still extreme. We're looking around about 8,000 short in New South Wales ACT and our border regions. So this might be very incredibly important for you. So I'm going to hand over to Liz, who's going to take us through what she has to talk to us about today and take over the screen. Over to you, Liz.

SPEAKER_04 13:25

Thanks, Laurie. Thanks for inviting me along today to talk about my two favourite subjects being visas and the outdoors. I'll just now try to share my screen. Perfect. You're a professional. Okay. So that I yeah. I took great pleasure in actually selecting the photos for this um presentation. So it was a good distraction anyway from what I usually do. And because I so I'm just trying to work out now how to navigate these slides.

SPEAKER_03 14:07

Okay, so um click on the PowerPoint. Yeah, if you click on the PowerPoint little um, where can I show you? Down the bottom right hand side, just next to the negative and plus on the size, there's a little screen. If you click on that little screen down there, it should display it as a full screen. Can you see that down there? Yep, just to the left where you keep going up. Actually, yeah, if you go um show a slideshow, where is it? So yeah, click on slideshow tab where your precursor is, yeah, and then from beginning. Perfect. And that'll show it as a full screen. There you go.

SPEAKER_04 14:52

Excellent. Thank you. Um so because I am a lawyer, I like to start my presentations off with a disclaimer. Um, this presentation does contain general information only, it's not legal advice. Um, visas have very detailed criteria, and so in the interest of time, um, only select features of visas will be discussed. Uh, in addition, importantly, Australian immigration law and policy change frequently. Um, the minister was meant to make some announcements with some visa changes this week, but uh that's been deferred to next week now, apparently. Um, so before taking any action, it's recommended that you do check the currency of information, seek up-to-date advice specific to your situation from a qualified professional. So, moving on to an overview of what I'll cover today, um, I'll be discussing checking work rights of visa holders from an organization's perspective. I'll talk about electronic travel authorities and e-visitor visas, student visas, partner visas, as these are the type of common visas that do have work rights. And I'll also be talking about working holiday visas, uh, temporary work and activity visas, and then moving on to the employer-sponsored visas, such as the temporary skills in demand and um employer nomination scheme visas. And I'll also touch on um bridging visas as well. And I'll leave time at the end for questions and point you to further information as well.

Checking Work Rights And Compliance

SPEAKER_04 16:48

So uh I haven't run through my talk, but um it should take about 30 minutes. Uh so first of all, regarding work rights, uh, in Australia it's an offence to allow someone to work for a business if they don't have work rights. Um and they can only work in Australia if they're either an Australian citizen or they hold a valid visa with permission to work. There's an obligation on employers to take reasonable steps at reasonable times under the legislation to verify that a person does have work rights. So, how can you check work rights? You can ask to see the person's Australian passport, or if they don't have a passport, then their citizenship certificate or Australian birth certificate with photo ID. You can also ask to see their New Zealand passport as New Zealanders have the privileged position of arriving in Australia and relying on their passport to be granted what's called a special category triple four visa, allowing them to have unrestricted work rights. Or um alternatively, you can ask to see their foreign passport and visa grant letter and ask them to email you their up-to-date free vivo check from the Department of Home Affairs website, or you can seek their permission to use their ID documents to check vivo yourself. Um I've just put a link there how um you might access the vivo system. Um as an organization, it's wise to check uh the visa that the person holds with the alignment with the intended employment period uh with your organization and also include provisions in the employment contract that they have and maintain a valid visa, that they'll inform you, the employer, of any changes to their visa status, that they provide proof of their visa status upon request and allow you to check their visa status. And this will help you comply with your obligations under the Migration Act. It's a good idea to diarise the visa expiry date and have a plan for making a further visa application if applicable. You might hear this spoken about as being visa renewal, but it's it's actually not renewing or extending their current visa, it's making a further new visa application. Um, I would suggest that if it's one of those longer-term visas, to check their visa four months before the expiry, um, and just in order to put in place um you know measures for for meeting the requirements of a new visa application. Um, and I'll come to this more later, but you might have to advertise the position locally to show that you can't find an Australian, for example, um, to fill the position. So you need to leave time for that. And also there are significant government charges as well for the employer-sponsored visas, so you might need to leave yourself enough time to budget for those charges. Um, I would I'd also suggest that just before making the further visa application, you check their visa status. Um that will help in making a valid visa application. And Department of Home Affairs also recommends that you check the visa status two days before it's due to expire and if their visa circumstances you know have changed. If they hold something called a bridging visa, this is a visa that's temporary and it's granted in a variety of situations. Common situation is if someone comes here on a temporary visa, say a student or working holiday visa, and then they apply for an employer-sponsored visa, they'll get a bridging visa to maintain their lawful status and work rights while they await for the decision on the new visa that they're applying for. So when you check vivo, it'll probably have that their lawful stay period is indefinite because um, you know, it's uncertain when that new visa will be granted. So if vivo doesn't show an expiry date, just um the department recommends checking their visa every three months to ensure they have work rights.

Visitor Student And Partner Visas

SPEAKER_04 21:44

Um now you might come across people in the community who are here on what's called an electronic travel authority or e visitor visa. This this includes our friends from the UK, the US, um, Taiwan, some European. Countries. And it's important to recognize that there are no work rights on those visitor visas. They can only undertake business visitor visa activities. So this means making a general business or employment inquiry, investigating, negotiating, or a business contract, or whether it's an official government-to-government visit, or they're participating in a conference, trade fair, or seminar, but not if they're being paid by the organizer for participation, because that then does cross the line into being work. So if they do want to work, they'll have to explore other visa options. So there are a couple of restrictions on student visas. And while their course is in session during the semester, they can work up to 48 hours per fortnight. If they're studying a master's degree by research or a doctoral degree, they can work more than 48 hours per fortnight. When their course is not in session, so during the semester break, they can work unlimited hours. Someone might also be here as a dependent, say a spouse or an adult child of a family member, or you know, a teenager who's reached the age of being able to work. It's important that to recognize that the work rights for family members do vary. So it's important to check on those. And I have some resources that I've listed at the end of this presentation where you might go to just check work rights for family members a bit further, but also you can ask to do vivo checks on the family members who are seeking work as well. Now it's uh another visa you might find people on are partner visas. So where they are the spouse or um uh you know, husband or wife or of an Australian citizen and uh they're sponsored here on a partner visa. Um these visas have full work rights. Um, but again, do check vivo. This is also a plug for my uh business that comes under Welcome Legal Umbrella. It's the Lovebirds Migration Agency, which specializes in partner visas. So I do like um talking to a legal audience and people asking, well, what sort of a lawyer are you? And what's your law firm called? And I say, Welcome legal and the Lovebirds Migration Agency. Um, it's had quite a good reception as well. And um, the way it came about was during COVID. Um, you know, I was working on a lot of um asylum applications for people, um, helping people with credible protection claims get the protection they need in Australia. And, you know, it was all a bit grueling, sort of day after day, of um, you know, helping people with claims of persecution. And so I just wanted to do something a bit lighthearted and to help Australians as well who who had travelled overseas or had met someone online and um wanted to bring them over on a partner visa to give them that reliable advice on how to do so. Um now.

Working Holiday And Short Stay Visas

SPEAKER_04 25:51

So just moving on now to working holiday visas. Um, these are for people who are oh, they're also called backpacker visas. Um they've been around for a while, and they're for people between 18 to 30 or up to 35 years old for the um working holiday 417 visa for some countries that Australia has agreements with. They're valid for up to one year, and they can generally only work for the same employer for up to six months unless they obtain special permission. But under policy, they cannot work longer in some situations. And this includes if they're working for employers in the tourism and hospitality industry, including tourist guides and operators, outdoor adventure or activity instructors, um, tourist transport service workers, such as tour bus drivers, um, and tourist agency and tourist information workers. Amazing. So they can do three months of what's called specified work in order to get a second working holiday visa. Um, in order to qualify for that, second holiday visa, they um there's certain work that they need to do, such as tourism and hospitality in northern or remote or very remote Australia. And there's definitions on the Home Affairs website of what that actually means, what postcodes and areas it covers, or working in the construction, mining, or certain types of farming in regional Australia or in disaster recovery. And then if they do further work in those areas, they may qualify for a third working holiday visa. So I rarely do get engaged to help with working holiday visas because the system is set up so that it's easy for a young person to apply for one of these visas directly themselves. I tend to get engaged by organisations who want to sponsor people for longer term or for specialised work visas. So something I do handle have been temporary work, short stay specialist visas, subclass 400. And this allows a person to stay for up to six months in Australia, where they're doing that type of um highly specialized work. So working on specific projects or delivering expert training. Um, I guess an example might be if they're delivering a seminar on survival skills or something like that in the bush, or um, you know, some something of that nature, um, or maybe even leadership type courses uh related to outdoor adventure. Um, and then there'd be many other examples, um I'm sure that you could think of. Uh and so the person would the organisation would need to show that the person has the skills, knowledge, or experience that are generally not available in Australia. Another category of visa that may be helpful for organisations wanting to bring someone from overseas is um if they're inviting them over for a social cultural activity for up to three months. So this might be, for example, where they are participating in some kind of conference or trade fair for your organisation, um, they're being paid for it, or they're being paid to promote your organization's activities or something like that. And so they don't qualify for just a visitor visa, they need a visa with work rights. Uh or um you might look at the sports visa stream of this subclass 408 visa. This allows for a stay of up to two years. Um, so for example, if your organization um delivers an activity that's also a sport, so um you and you need a coach, say, in in mountain biking to come over, um, then you could consider this type of sports visa. Or perhaps you you might want to recruit someone who's an influencer and outdoor adventure from overseas to come over and they might qualify for the entertainer stream of this subclass 408 visa. Um so then just moving on to um the other employer-sponsored visas.

Employer Sponsored Visas 482 And 186

SPEAKER_04 30:56

Um, so if you're organized, if you've got like money burning a hole in your pocket, um and you know you need someone for longer term, you might consider what's called a skills in demand visa, which is a subclass 482. Um, if you've been around for a while, you might know that these replace what's called the temporary 457 in the past visa. So they allow for a stay of up to four years, and uh with some exceptions, such as a five-year stay for Hong Kong passport holders. Um and you they need to have an eligible occupation that's on the skilled occupations list. The good news is currently the occupation of tour guide is an eligible occupation on the core skills occupation list for the 482 visa. It's recognized that this occupation is also known as a tour escort to a leader with a specialization of regional guide. And the definition in the ANSCO Dictionary, um, which is Australian New Zealand Standard Classification of Umcations, which is a publication by the ABS. Uh the definition of the occupation is that person escorts visitors on sightseeing, educational, and other tours and describes and explains points of interest. So you can see how this might include outdoor guides and they need at least, um, according to ANSCO, an AQF certificate three, including at least two years of on-the-job training, or they need an AQF certificate four or overseas equivalent of these qualifications. They must convince the home affairs decision maker that they have the appropriate skills, qualifications, and employment background for that occupation.

SPEAKER_03 33:04

Liz, just with that one, there is a oh, sorry, you've got to cover it now. Forget that. I just saw it.

SPEAKER_04 33:14

So a requirement is that they must be paid at least the annual market salary rate. So this includes compliance with any award rates and the minimum applicable salary threshold for the occupation, um, it's which is currently nearly it's nearly $80,000 plus super, and it's which is indexed annually on 1 July. Um they need to have a full-time role with your organisation and at least one year of previous relevant work experience in the occupation or related field. They generally can only work for the employer in the position that they've been proposed for. They need to meet minimum standards of English and meet good character and health requirements. Um if required, they do need to have a skills risk assessment uh for the occupation from one of the proscribed assessment authorities, um, such as Vet Assess, but currently they don't need to have a skills assessment for the occupation of tour guide. Um there's a three-stage process for the um 482 visa. I've just been told I've reached 20 minutes, I think. Um doing well. So I'm just gonna try to keep to time. Um there's a three-stage process for the 482 visa, which goes back to what I was saying about leaving enough lead time to uh comply with all the steps. First of all, the organization needs to apply for approval as a sponsor. Secondly, the position that you want to employ them in needs to be nominated by you. Um, you need to generally conduct that labour market testing. Um, and there's some very specific requirements in the legislation about what needs to be included in the testing, in the um advertisements and where they need to be advertised. But there are some exemptions to labour market testing, um, for example, where Australia has international trade obligations with some countries that require the allowing of free movement or labour mobility between countries, uh, in that sort of situation, you might not, you wouldn't have to undertake advertising of the position before sponsoring the person. And then the third step is that uh the person can apply for their visa. So normally that's if the first two steps, sponsorship approval and nomination, have been approved, then the person can apply. But sometimes if their current visa is coming to an end, um sometimes these um steps can be lodged concurrently. So there are government charges associated with each stage, and the total charges do vary depending on the length of visa you're requiring, um the revenue of the business, and any additional charges if the person is bringing family members with them. So that's that was the temporary 482 visa. So then there's the permanent employer nomination subclass 186 visa. So this is a permanent residence visa, um, and it's available as a direct entry visa if the person has, you know, amongst other things, three years of full-time or equivalent work experience already in the occupation. Um that's one of the requirements for direct entry into this visa, or if they have been on a visa, uh the 482 visa here for at least two years, um, they can qualify for this permanent residence visa under what's called the temporary residence transition scheme. Um, for the direct entry option, they do need to get a skills assessment from VETISSES for the occupation of tour guide. Um, whereas for the temporary residence transition, where they've already worked for your organization for at least two years, they don't need to get that skills assessment. Um the key requirements for stage one employer nomination for the 186 visa is that you need to show there's a genuine need for the identified person to be employed in the position. So you need to show how they fit into your organisation and the role that they'll be undertaking and the task and how that fits in with your business. It needs to be full-time employment in the position for at least two years without excluding the possibility of extension. And the business needs to show it has the capacity to employ the person for at least two years and pay them the annual market salary rate and minimum applicable salary threshold, which is the same as what I mentioned before, which is it's nearly $80,000 plus super indexed annually. If the employer nomination is approved, then home affairs will then consider the visa application by the person. So the the applicant must have an eligible occupation. Currently, the occupation of tour guide is available for this 186 permanent visa. The person must be under 45 years old. Um, as I mentioned, they need to have that positive skills assessment from Vet Assess. Um they need to have at least three years of relevant full-time work experience or equivalent. They need to meet the minimum English requirement, and they need good health and character.

Key Takeaways Resources And Links

SPEAKER_04 39:45

So the key takeaways uh from my presentation are to check work rights, um, plan ahead for visa applications, um, so to include time to undertake skills assessments if necessary, um, and you know, for for budgeting and for labour market testing. Check the currency of any information related to visas as it frequently changes. You can get involved in making submissions to government to let your federal um local member know what your requirements are, uh what your workforce requirements are, and you know, other government inquiries as well. And finally, to seek out professional advice. Um I've just included my contact details at the end, so and more than happy to um offer an you know an initial assessment service where uh I can assess whether your organization might qualify to sponsor someone for one of these um visas. Um, and these are the resources that I mentioned before, so it's important to rely on the official immigration department website. That's the home affairs website address. Um, I've included the list to the different visas that are available that you can have a look at and um see what the criteria are. And also you there's a search tool on the home affairs website for the skilled occupation list as well. So you can put in an occupation and um, you know, sometimes you have to think laterally of what else it might be called, and then um see what visa options come up with that occupation for that occupation. But as I mentioned, um more than happy to help advise on, you know, provide tailored advice on what might be possible for your organization and and the candidate that you have in mind. Um my contact details are there on that last slide. So it feels like I've been talking a lot. So my my last slide is um to indicate that it's uh it feels like it's night time now and there's a lovely starry night in a tent pitched underneath and um yeah, ready for bed.

SPEAKER_03 42:11

That's brilliant. Thank you so much, Liz. Look, I think if there's any um sort of uh message here, is the seek out the professionals because my goodness, there's a lot of uh detail to each of those different types of visas, and no doubt you'll be able to sift through what's appropriate for the circumstance that our guys might be facing. So um amazing. Is there any questions for Liz while we have her?

Live Questions Sponsorship And Timing

SPEAKER_03 42:40

Amazing wealth of anything.

SPEAKER_01 42:41

I think it's a comment question is that it really sounds like we need to think about the wording of anyone who you're replaying an outside of us. Well, we might call them an outer educator, maybe they are changing whether they're um eligible or not, is my take from it.

SPEAKER_03 43:12

Yeah, it's important correctly, Liz. Is that right, Liz?

SPEAKER_04 43:16

Yeah, correct. It's important to look at the skilled occupations list and um to see what occupation uh might be relevant to include them on uh in, and um to consider the ANSCO definition uh of the occupation and also the definition that's given by um vet assess or whoever the prescribed authority is for that for the assessment of that occupation as well. Um, and try to um I guess provide pitch the application, provide documentation in such a way that address the description. Of the occupation.

SPEAKER_03 44:03

Amazing. Clay, you had a question?

SPEAKER_02 44:07

Yeah, so I'll start by saying I might reach out to Liz after this and seek further advice because that seems like the best option. But I am inquiring on behalf of my partner who's from India and wanting to come to Australia to work in outdoor education. Amazing. He's a mountain guide here and teaches kids in New Delhi rock climbing. But he doesn't have the appropriate documents for the skill visa. So we were looking at the student visa, and my interest is in the sponsorship because I'm aware that companies can sponsor people to get the cert for and then work as well. So I was just wanting to inquire more about this.

SPEAKER_03 44:56

So if we offered a traineeship, Liz for Claire's partner, that would qualify, wouldn't it? Um, if we brought them over under a traineeship.

SPEAKER_04 45:07

Um I'd have to look at it in in more detail. Yeah, more than happy for you to shoot me an email, Claire, and um yeah, we can we can go from there.

SPEAKER_03 45:16

Fantastic. Amazing. Uh I don't think you'll struggle getting uh work, Claire, because we are very much under the pump.

SPEAKER_02 45:26

And that was going to be my other question. So I know I'll have to find the company to sponsor. So this is me networking and asking around if you would have any leads on potentially companies, schools, or anyone who might be interested.

SPEAKER_03 45:42

Wonderful. The place to go um quickly and efficiently to find out what's available. I'm gonna pop it in the chat for you. Um is our job board, which is the outdoor work job board. Um, so if you have a look at that, you'll get a bit of a feel for oh, why is that not working for me? Hold on, is that the right one? Yes, there we go. Um, so yeah, if you look at uh as an example, one went up yesterday for uh Land's Edge. Um, you know, there's a couple there, paid traineeships for Black Diamond. So yeah, have a look at some of those and maybe reach out to them and say, would you be open to um a visa holder applying for this role or such? Um I think Liz, the the challenge as you've probably articulated is that time factor, isn't it? So that application uh period. So even if these positions um, you know, might require someone now, the key is to plan ahead and maybe um say if you've got a future position, or is that right? Is the time delay significant?

SPEAKER_04 46:54

Yeah, correct. And um, the government did recently announce that they're deprioritising patients from offshore, they're giving that uh priority to people already onshore. Um, so that's something else to take into account. But um, yeah, we we can definitely help with advising on the best visa pathway to get them here as as soon as possible. Yeah, great.

SPEAKER_03 47:19

Fantastic. I think I speak for um, you know, more than just uh in this room today, but the frustration currently against the word immigration is unfounded. And when you look at industries like us, where we don't have people that can jump into these roles or don't want to jump into these roles, um, we have uh an absolute mecca of skilled workers in other countries that this industry is a lot more mature than here. So we need to be able to learn and bring these people in. Um, so yeah, the frustrations are quite high. I struggle at getting into home affairs to uh to to speak to that and constantly providing submissions. So if anyone wants to join me on that, I'm happy to share all my submissions and jump on board. But uh maybe Liz, I might pick your brain on that as well, see if there's anything I need to do.

SPEAKER_04 48:12

Um, I can um definitely help come up with some avenues um to help you get heard on those frustrations, Laurie.

SPEAKER_03 48:21

Amazing. Great. So Liz, I'm gonna um certainly put your details into the portal so that all the members have got access in case they have any visa um questions, needs, uh, all of that type of stuff. This recording will now go to all of our membership. Um, so hopefully we'll be able to solve some of our problems with your assistance. Thank you so much again. Is there any more questions before we let Liz go when we um finish up for today's session? No. Great, all right. Well, thank you again, Liz. Really love having you here. You are more than welcome to come back anytime. And uh we uh hopefully we'll um see you in the near future. Sorry, my pleasure. Nice to meet everyone. Bye. Lovely to meet you. Thank you.

Wrap Up And Next Week Preview

SPEAKER_03 49:17

So thank you everyone for joining. We will close today's uh recording and uh send you back on your way for the end of today. So um I'll just race through the wonderful presentation before we get to her details again. There for you as our last uh promotion of Liz and her uh skill set that can help us. We'll see you all again next week where we talk all things uh census and PLP, our pinnacle leadership program research. So have a great week, everyone.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

Thank you for joining the weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum, brought to you by Outdoors, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, your peak body for the outdoor industry. Together with our members, we're shaping the future of the outdoors. See you next week for more insights and collaboration.