Executive search firms aren't happy about Australia's proposed tightening of visa rules.

Headhunters in Australia are concerned about proposed restrictions to the country’s immigration rules, fearful these will squeeze firms seeking to attract talent.

The worries have been voiced by the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants.

Their comments follow the 18 April announcement by the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull MP, and his Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Hon Peter Dutton MP, that the Temporary Work (Skilled) visa (subclass 457 visa) be abolished and replaced with the new Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa. Changes to the subclass 186 visa were also announced-including the extension of age limits.

Amended rules would set a new maximum age limit of 45 years old for executive-level professionals to obtain 186 visas, significantly restricting Australia's access to +45 year old top senior executive talent, AESC said in a statement.

"We are collectively concerned that the mooted changes to Australia's Skilled Worker Visa arrangements will impact access to the global executive talent pool," said Graham Willis, AESC Chair for Australia.

"On a daily basis our members are dealing with the deep executive talent pools that exist within Australia. However, these talent pools do not always offer the depth of executive experience needed to meet the future needs of a business. With executive recruitment now a global story and given rapid disruptive changes in the market, Australian companies must ensure they are globally competitive,” he continued. "The decision by a Senior Executive to relocate-whether for offshoring or onshoring-is not one taken lightly; nor is the decision by Australian companies to employ overseas talent," he said. "It is significant that the collective view of Australian AESC members this week was that the proposed 457 and 186 visa changes are likely to be counterproductive in attracting the very best executive talent to Australia."

WealthBriefingAsia has asked the organisation how it thinks such rules will affect the banking and wealth management sector in particular.

"Executive search and leadership consulting firms fully appreciate the depth of executive talent within the country, and understand the intention and desire of this legislation to protect opportunities available to Australian citizens," said Steve Mullinjer, AESC Global Vice Chair and Chair of AESC's Council of Asia Pacific and the Middle East. "However, for true economic opportunities for Australia and its citizens, it is essential that Australian companies have access to talent that can best deliver the greatest business outcomes." He reinforced the point that AESC's experience confirmed that high performance from any company requires leadership expertise that is diverse, experienced and can drive transformation and change.

As reported in April, Australia intends to tighten visa requirements for skilled workers from overseas. The existing 457 visa programme is used mainly to hire foreign workers in the restaurant, IT and medical industries - the majority came from India, the UK and China. But the current administration said the system would be abolished to give priority to hiring Australian nationals. According to government statistics, 95,758 people were living in Australia on 457 visas last year, with the highest proportion coming from India (24.6 per cent), the UK (19.5 per cent) and China (5.8 per cent) (source: BBC).