News

Call for investigating dodgy migration agents, AAT A notable number of government MPs are pushing for a 10-member migration committee to investigate the migration appeals process over concerns about the number of times the tribunal overturns government decisions to deport criminals who are in Australian on visas. The MPs said they were concerned about dodgy migration agents, who clogged up the system with a string of appeals often giving false hope to clients. The MPs also want the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to be investigated for its increasing overrule of the decisions by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. The Police Federation of Australia is also not happy with certain “elements of the judiciary” for “flouting laws” that allows visas of criminals to be cancelled.

North Korean youth football team refused Australian entry over nuclear program The federal government has prevented a North Korean youth football team from coming to Australia to play in a tournament, saying allowing them would be contrary to its opposition to the rogue nation’s nuclear program. The fixture is now to be moved to a “neutral venue”, a spokesperson told news reporters.

Indonesia wants open doors to Australia for its workers under free trade deal Indonesia wants Australia to whole-heartedly open its doors to more Indonesian workers, including nurses and cooks. It also wants Australia to remove tariffs on textiles as free trade negotiations between the two countries enter the final month. Negotiations between the two countries stalled since 2013 amid diplomatic tensions but resumed last year.

Visa requirement is seen as threat to Games The Australian government is adamant on its requirement for all athletes and officials to obtain visas to attend next year’s Commonwealth Games and people in the business are not happy, saying this might threaten the Games in the longer run. According to news sources, the government is defying decades of international sports convention by insisting that accredited Games attendees must obtain a “temporary activity’’ visa via an online application. Normally, as a tradition, Olympic and Commonwealth Games host nations waive visa requirements for accredited athletes and officials. This system was in place for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Family violence against women on temporary visas on the rise: report More women on temporary partner visas across Australia may be experiencing family violence than what was perceived until now. A new and first of its kind study of family violence against temporary female residents in Australia suggests that at least 9,112 women on temporary partner visas are experiencing family violence. The report titled ‘Temporary migration and family violence: An analysis of victimisation, vulnerability and support’ is said to be the first major study in Australia to examine the link between migration status and family violence. According to the report, there were 529 family violence provision applications made by women on such visas in 2015–16. Of these, 403 were successful. The report, by Monash University Associate Professor Marie Segrave, was launched by Victorian Multicultural Commission Chair Helen Kapalos on Thursday, October 12, at the Monash Law Chambers.  

Call for universities to give more scholarships to refugees Did you know that only 1 percent of the world’s 65 million refugees have a university degree? Alarming, isn’t it? This may change if a [much needed] recommendation by a Portuguese diplomat who spoke at the Australian International Higher Education Conference last week is substantiated. Portuguese diplomat Helena Barroco urged universities around the world to offer more scholarships to refugees, and attendees from more than 30 countries at the Conference that took place in Hobart agreed. In Australia, refugees or asylum seekers have vastly different experiences in accessing university. The ambitions of most of them have been put on hold due to their visa statuses. Do you think that refugees/asylum seekers in Australia should be given access to education until their cases are being decided on?

US visa crackdown hits Australians Australians possessing H-1 B and L1 visas in the US are vulnerable to Trump’s new US visa restrictions. News reports suggest that the change has caused a sudden increase of Australian tourists being stopped and turned away at US borders up and down the country.  There are fears that a large number of Australian citizens may be barred from working in the States. This is because the J1 visa program is also under review, with foreigners set to be banned from accessing US visas as tourist workers, live-in childcare workers, summer camp counsellors, interns and trainees. According to a report published by The Wall Street Journal, Australians most likely to be hit by US visa restrictions are those completing ‘on-the-job professional training, such as healthcare workers.’

Grants for women in STEM extended to VET sector This week brought good news for women and girls in STEM, planning to enrol in VET sector as the federal government grants program for women and girls in STEM, which initially excluded TAFE, has been revised and extended to TAFE. The ‘Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship’ program provides funding of between $5,000 and $250,000, for projects up to two years. Applications are open now.

Migration to Queensland highest in eight years While South Australia struggles with population growth and impact of interstate migration on the State, the number of interstate migrants to Queensland has been the highest it’s been for eight years. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk told state parliament on Wednesday that 15,716 people moved to Queensland in the year to March 2017, with most of those coming from NSW. She said factors such as promoting Queensland as an attractive destination to move to, lower taxes and house prices were driving this migration growth.

AFEs and universities split over Business Council plan for tertiary reform TAFEs and universities are at odds over a radical plan for reform of education unveiled last week by the Business Council of Australia (BCA). The BCA report titled ‘Future Proof, Protecting Australians through Education and Skills’, proposed a tertiary system, where VET and higher education operate coherently, rather than as silos, supported by a single funding model and a lifelong entitlement to tertiary education. While TAFEs have strongly supported the report’s increased focus on TAFEs as a key economic lever, Universities Australia has warned that the plan risked eroding the quality of tertiary education, and opened the possibility of private providers abusing the system, as with the former VET FEE-HELP scheme.