MINTRAC Corrective Statement on SMH article re foreign meat workers
Wednesday 1 September
An article appearing in the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) on 31 August 2021 in relation to alleged employment practices of the meat industry to recruit foreign workers was published and mentions MINTRAC’s role in accrediting Overseas Worker Assessors (OWA’s).
MINTRAC is correcting commentary in the article. MINTRAC plays no role in overseas worker recruitment. MINTRAC’s role is purely administrative in maintaining a publicly accessible register of approved overseas skills assessors.
That role is governed by an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Commonwealth Department of Home Affairs.
The SMH article makes use of the term ‘MINTRAC Assessors’ which is misleading.
These assessors (OWA’s) are not MINTRAC employees nor contracted by MINTRAC in any capacity to perform overseas worker assessments.
OWA’s are engaged by employers and recruitment agencies to assess the eligibility of overseas workers to work in Australia in accordance with visa eligibility criteria.
This criterion is established and defined by the Department of Home Affairs and contained in enforceable Labour Agreements with sponsoring employers.
MINTRAC and the Department have been working closely in 2021 to identify continual process improvement opportunities, to underpin the veracity and depth of accreditation standards that OWA’s must meet before being approved and added to the OWA Register.
Click here to read corrective statement >
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National Meat Industry Training Advisory Council Limited (MINTRAC) is the peak training and advisory council for the Australian Meat Industry.
For further information or to speak with MINTRAC Chief Executive Office Mick Crouch, please email Anneke Van der Walt on [email protected].
