ABSTRACT
The strongest protective feature of the Worker Protection reforms for migrant workers was their reappraisal of salary requirements. This chapter examines four clusters of reforms to the dominant vehicle for temporary migrant labour in Australia, the 457 visa scheme, and pathways from it to residence, starting in 2008. Integrity measures have been introduced in the name of protecting vulnerable migrants, without appreciating how these can actually close down options for temporary migrant workers and worsen their insecurity. More sophisticated attention is needed to unpack how policing workers immigration status in Australia can result in greater precariousness of labour. Some of these measures have also set up a contest between foreign workers and local workers, impliedly opting to keep migrant workers precarious in the name of shoring up local's conditions and opportunities. Others may have improved security for 457 visa workers at the expense of other temporary workers, especially international students.
