JAJ

Nurses are supposed to be in short supply in Australia. If that is the case, if someone says no to an employer offering only a 457, the employer should have no problem sponsoring for a permanent visa. If the alternative is that they don't fill a critical position.

If nurses are not in short supply in Australia, then I cannot see any good reason why employers should even be allowed to sponsor on 457 visas. They should be paying the right wages and conditions to attract Australian citizens and permanent residents.

Once again - I cannot see any reason why a nurse should have to deal with all the risks and problems of a 457 visa just for the convenience of some employer. Nurses are fortunate in that they CAN normally get general skilled migration - so just wait the extra year or so and get the right visa which protects you from having to leave Australia on the whim of an employer.

In my experience, most people are not very good at negotiating with employers when looking to move to Australia. To do so successfully requires a clear understanding of what is a deal-breaker (and to be willing to walk away from deal) and the willingness to explain to employer in very clear terms why this is a concern and why the deal won't happen if there is no agreement.

Pollyana

In most cases I would recommend if a nurse can get a 175 and avoid the whole sponsorship thing then thats definitely the way to go, even with the wait for a visa compared to the speed of a 457.
Gets trickier when you start looking at those over 45 etc, ineligible for unsponsored migration. If they want to get to Aus they have to take whats on offer and I guess the employers know this - the system may not be fair but a nurse refusing to play by the rules the hospitals are setting isn't going to change the system as there are plenty of people waiting to step into the vacancy - they will only hurt themselves if they hold out for sponsored PR when the hospitals won't do it.
The system may be flawed, but its still the system.