Public Service Commissioner Peter Hughes has today announced the appointment of Jenn Bestwick to lead the review of the administration of the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme.
Mr Hughes has also announced the terms of reference for the review.
The objective of the review is to determine whether Immigration New Zealand’s administration of the scheme is being carried out appropriately. It will also identify any possible improvements to the scheme, with a focus on mitigating the risk of migrant exploitation and irregular migration.
Mr Hughes said he was pleased to appoint Ms Bestwick, who led the 2020 inquiry into how Budget-sensitive material was accessed at the Treasury.
“Ms Bestwick has extensive experience working in large complex organisations across the public and private sectors and has a strong track record in governance roles,” said Mr Hughes.
The review will consider, make findings and report on the appropriateness of all aspects of the employer accreditation scheme and job check processes undertaken by Immigration NZ as part of the scheme. This will include:
- service delivery performance
- operational decision-making including management and internal controls
- verification and monitoring
- resourcing and capability
- any other matter considered relevant to achieving the purpose of the review.
The review will not examine the appropriateness of the policy settings, consider the merits of any individual accreditation or job check decisions, unless they relate to any wider issues of process. The review will also not examine decisions made during the migrant step of the process or make recommendations in relation to individual cases.
Media queries: grahame.armstrong@publicservice.govt.nz or 021 940 457
