The Abbott government has moved to skirt a Federal Court decision that jeopardised the jobs of hundreds of foreign employees working on offshore oil rigs and vessels.
Assistant Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash used her regulatory powers to circumvent last week's court decision and issued a determination to give temporary work rights to overseas rig workers.
She will also give special purpose visas - which are granted automatically on entry to Australia - to overseas crew on floating vessels.
It means the Abbott government won't be appealing against the Federal Court decision, which stripped hundreds of overseas employees of their ability work.
A spokesman for Senator Cash said those rights had been restored without further court action.
"The government has worked swiftly to again restore certainty to an industry that employs thousands of Australians and is vital to our national economy," he told AAP.
The Federal Court last Thursday found Senator Cash did not have the regulatory power to exclude all offshore workers from Labor laws that beefed up visa requirements.
Her attempt effectively voided the opposition's 2013 offshore resource activity legislation.
But she has tried again, with a similar tactic but a narrower class of workers, meaning the maritime unions who successfully challenged the move in court would have to appeal all over again.
One of those, the Maritime Union of Australia, described the latest determination as "Groundhog Day" and accused Senator Cash of looking after her mates in big business.
"Instead of circumventing the Senate, we challenge Senator Cash to instead sit down with unions, employers and the parliament to find a way through this visa mess," deputy national secretary Mick Doleman told AAP.
Senator Cash excluded workers from Labor's rules after the Senate shot down three types of temporary working visas for foreign offshore oil and gas employees.
Those regulations were a response to the upper house blocking the repeal of the stricter visa conditions.
The government says highly skilled overseas workers are needed to support the $200 billion oil and gas sector and the jobs of thousands of Australians.
Many are here to perform a specific task before moving on to other projects elsewhere, it says.
But the Australian Greens fear the temporary visas allow migrant workers to be exploited at the expense of local jobs and have vowed to take action against Senator Cash's move when parliament resumes in May.
Greens MP Adam Bandt is looking into potential legal appeals and disallowing of the move in parliament.
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