Views towards temporary work visas

26 Oct 2021

Q. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about temporary work visas in Australia?

	TOTAL: Agree	TOTAL: Disagree	Strongly agree	Somewhat agree	Neither agree nor disagree	Somewhat disagree	Strongly disagree
Temporary work visas should be used to cover genuine skills shortages, not to provide cheap labour	72%	8%	41%	31%	20%	5%	3%
Everyone who works in Australia should be entitled to the same pay and working conditions regardless of their visa status	67%	10%	34%	33%	24%	7%	3%
Temporary work visas are essential for Australian businesses to fill skills shortages	59%	14%	19%	40%	26%	8%	6%
Temporary work visas have been used to drive down wages and working conditions in Australia	47%	16%	17%	30%	37%	12%	4%

There is high agreement with the need to provide equivalent pay and conditions to migrant workers. 72% of people agree temporary work visas should be used to cover genuine skills shortages, not to provide cheap labour and 67% agree that all workers in Australia should be entitled to the same pay and working conditions.
There is less consensus as to whether temporary work visas have been used to drive down wages and working conditions in Australia. Just 47% agree with this statement, and a further 37% neither agree nor disagree.

TOTAL: Agree	Total	Gender		Age Group			Federal Voting Intention
TOTAL: Agree	Total	Male	Female	18-34	35-54	55+	Labor	TOTAL: Coalition	Greens	TOTAL: Other
Temporary work visas should be used to cover genuine skills shortages, not to provide cheap labour	72%	71%	73%	60%	70%	85%	74%	77%	74%	64%
Everyone who works in Australia should be entitled to the same pay and working conditions regardless of their visa status	67%	67%	66%	57%	66%	75%	71%	70%	75%	55%
Temporary work visas are essential for Australian businesses to fill skills shortages	59%	61%	58%	55%	57%	66%	63%	66%	63%	46%
Temporary work visas have been used to drive down wages and working conditions in Australia	47%	50%	44%	49%	50%	43%	53%	44%	51%	46%
Base (n)	1,781	875	906	533	601	647	636	610	157	220

Those aged over 55 are more likely than younger cohorts to agree that temporary work visas should be used to cover genuine skills shortages, not to provide cheap labour (85% to 65% younger cohorts), everyone who works in Australia should be entitled to the same pay and working conditions regardless of their visa status (75% to 62%), and temporary work visas are essential for Australian businesses to fill skills shortages (66% to 56%).
Minor/independent party voters are less likely than other voters to agree that temporary work visas should be used to cover genuine skills shortages, not to provide cheap labour (64% to 75% all other voters), everyone who works in Australia should be entitled to the same pay and working conditions regardless of their visa status (55% to 71%), and temporary work visas are essential for Australian businesses to fill skills shortages (46% to 64%).

TOTAL: Agree	People who say the levels of immigration have been too low	People who say the levels of immigration have been about right	People who say the levels of immigration have been too high
Temporary work visas should be used to cover genuine skills shortages, not to provide cheap labour	71%	73%	75%
Everyone who works in Australia should be entitled to the same pay and working conditions regardless of their visa status	78%	67%	64%
Temporary work visas are essential for Australian businesses to fill skills shortages	71%	66%	52%
Temporary work visas have been used to drive down wages and working conditions in Australia	49%	44%	56%
Base (n)	277	645	694

Irrespective of views towards immigration, the majority agree temporary work visas should be used to cover genuine skills shortages, not to provide cheap labour.
While overall there is majority agreement that everyone who works in Australia should be entitled to the same pay and working conditions regardless of their visa status, those who say the levels of immigration have been too low are more likely to agree with this than those who think the levels have been about right or too high (78% to 67% and 64% respectively).
Those who say the levels of immigration have been too low are also more likely to agree that temporary work visas are essential for Australian businesses to fill skills shortages (71% to 66% and 52%).
Those who say immigration levels have been too high are more likely to agree temporary work visas have been used to drive down wages and working conditions in Australia (56% to 44% ‘about right’ and 49% ‘too low’).

The Essential Report Archive Read the latest report