The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) has established a labour agreement with Santa Claus that will allow his workforce of highly skilled elves to enter the country, establish operations and train Australian elves.
A spokesman for DIAC said Santa had approached the Department last December to find out the best way of getting his elves to join him at Christmas in Australia to help with his duties.
“Elves are not on the list of approved occupations for the subclass 457 visa, permanent employer nomination scheme or regional sponsored migration services scheme but Mr Claus was able to establish there was a genuine shortage of qualified elves here,” the spokesman said.
“As a result, he negotiated a labour agreement which has been specifically tailored to allow this special group of workers into the country.”
The spokesman said Santa was delighted that there was a chance to enter into a flexible arrangement to suit his labour needs where it was obvious a shortage existed in what is a very specific skill set.
He said a record number of labour agreements had been entered into in 2011 with employers appreciating the flexibility they offered, including the fact a specific number of workers could enter the country on a temporary or permanent basis to meet demonstrated skills shortages.
“Key stakeholders must be consulted (and) in Santa’s case this included the Australian Elves’ Union,” the spokesman said.
“Santa was also able to ensure his overseas recruitment of elves did not affect long-term improvement of employment opportunities for Australians, which is a key element of any labour agreement.”
“He must, like all employers who are party to a labour agreement, contribute to the training of Australians and pay market salary rates.”
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