Australia cracks down on visas for fast food industry

Peter Dutton says the change will benefit young Australians

Australia will largely end granting visas to foreign workers to fill jobs in the fast food industry, the nation's immigration minister has said.

Peter Dutton said the decision was designed to protect Australian jobs. Since 2012, more than 500 foreign staff have been granted a visa - known as 457 - to work at businesses including McDonald's, KFC and Hungry Jack's.


The skilled worker visa, designed to fill Australian shortages, also extends to family members. "Australian workers, particularly young Australians, must be given priority," Mr Dutton said in explaining the change.

He said visas would still be granted under exceptional circumstances. Why Australia's temporary workers' scheme is under fire

According to government statistics, 95,758 people were living in Australia on 457 visas in September last year, compared with 103,862 in 2015. The highest proportion came from India (24.6%), the UK (19.5%) and China (5.8%).