News

Myanmar asylum-seeker jailed for marrying child-bride In what is believed to be the nation’s first prosecution of this nature, a Myanmar asylum-seeker has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for marrying an underage girl in Australia. According to Times Live, the 34-year-old wedded the child, a 14-year-old, at an Islamic mosque in the Melbourne suburb of Noble Park last year. This comes under forced marriages which were outlawed in Australia in 2013.

Australia to increase outsourcing in visa approval process In an attempt to transform the country’s visa system, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) has turned to the market and is seeking a provider to design, implement, and operate a new visa business. According to the request for expression of interest (REOI) that was published at the weekend, the new visa business will be outsourced to another party that will be charged with processing visa applications. Currently, only 20 percent of the country’s visa service is outsourced. According to DIBP figures, 8.78 million visas were applied for in 2016-17. The government expects this number to reach 13 million by 2026-27.

Fair Work wants international students to report exploitation Observing and expressing its concern over a “disproportionately low” number of complaints from foreign students, Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James has urged international students to seek the agency’s help if they are exploited at work. Ms. James wrote an “open letter” addressing the international students. “If there’s a problem with your pay or if other issues arise at your work, I encourage you to speak to us,” the letter says. “We’ve seen cases where employers have threatened international students with deportation for working more than the number of hours permitted under their visa when they have raised questions about their entitlements. In some cases these same employers have altered pay slips and underpaid hourly rates in order to disguise the number of hours the student has worked,” she wrote. Last year, one-third of workers’ exploitation cases reported to the Fair Work involved international students.

Yet again, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has saved a “dangerous” apex gang member who was supposed to be kicked out from Australia. The AAT overturned a decision on Friday. The Department had cancelled his visa after evidence from the police that the man, aged 20, was on a seven-year crime spree of a “violent and anti-social nature”. The accused had been staying in a detention, awaiting deportation to New Zealand, since his visa was cancelled by the Department in February. The AAT revoked the visa cancellation saying they did not want to separate him from his Melbourne-based family and are observing his mental condition. They were told that he has been treated for mental illness since 2013 and was diagnosed as bipolar in 2014.

The Australian Education Union that has been tussling with the government over a new agreement for almost a year has withdrawn from negotiations saying the State government was proposing unfair changes. What the Union has been most vocal about is its claim that the government wants to increase the workload of TAFE teachers by up to 20 per cent — from an average of 741 hours to 900. Among other concerns are the government’s proposed deal of cutting penalty rates, increasing attendance requirements from 42 weeks to 46 weeks a year and the pay gap between Victorian and NSW TAFE teachers, which it says is an average of $10,000. The state government, on the other hand, claims to have saved TAFE by voicing against the former government’s slashing of funding to TAFE.

International travellers into and out of Australia are being reminded of the need to declare any cash they are carrying in excess of AUD $10,000 or more, to help make travel at airports smoother. A joint media release from the Australian Border Force (ABF), Australian Federal Police (AFP) and AUSTRAC was issued on Monday reminding travellers that AFP and ABF were continuing to observe international travellers with undeclared currency, particularly at Sydney International Airport. It says that under Australian law, travellers can carry an unlimited amount of cash into and out of Australia – however, amounts of $10,000 or more Australian dollars (or foreign currency equivalent) must be declared first by completing an online form.

As the situation for Rohingya Muslims worsens in Myanmar, Greens have called on the government to take in 20,000 refugees fleeing bloodshed. The political party has suggested Australia organises an emergency intake similar to the Syria program launched two years ago. According to United Nations, at least 300,000 people have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent weeks.As the situation for Rohingya Muslims worsens in Myanmar, Greens have called on the government to take in 20,000 refugees fleeing bloodshed. The political party has suggested Australia organises an emergency intake similar to the Syria program launched two years ago. According to United Nations, at least 300,000 people have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent weeks.

If you are applying for skills assessment with Engineers Australia (EA), there are a few recent announcements you may find useful. Last week, EA announced that they will now accept PTE (Academic) test results, with effect from 1 November 2017. The minimum score for an applicant to be considered is 50 in each of the 4 modules. In June 2017, Pakistan became a full signatory of the Washington Accord. Thus applicants holding a qualification accredited/acknowledged by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) under the Washington Accord list completed on or after 2017 can now apply via the accredited qualifications pathways. EA now wants applicants, who have been practising in a country where Engineering is a regulated profession, to include evidence of registration in the application.

Some uniformity please! Immigration minister Peter Dutton prides himself on being tough when it comes to immigration laws and how he exercises his discretion in intervening in cases that are rejected by the DIBP. All this very much behoves a person holding the position of immigration minister in a country which attracts millions of visa applicants each year. But there’s something amiss which is also very important: Uniformity. Last month, UK-born Kelly Webb was allowed to stay in the country despite having several domestic violence and violent crimes cases registered against her. She was being deported but has now been allowed to stay, and cannot apply for citizenship for next 3 years. A mild rap on the knuckles if you consider the case of a 92-year-old British war veteran who was asked to leave the country and harassed for weeks—with his Medicare card blocked—but was eventually allowed to stay. Bear in mind he had no criminal case against him. Or the case of a Brisbane grandmother who was deported after having spent 50 years in Australia. Minister Dutton has repeatedly said that there would be zero tolerance against “foreigners” found violating the law. No sane person will argue against that. But why can’t there be a policy—approved by the judiciary, of course—for such cases so that it lays down the guiding principles once and for all? I don’t think it is such a big ask. It will also help his own workload too, considering he will have a set template to follow.

India in the spot for March migration figures The latest migration figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that India was the biggest source of Australian migration in March, with a total of 2,250 new migrants arriving in the country. China, with 1,720 migrants, was the second highest. Iraq, New Zealand and the Philippines rounded out the top 5, while United Kingdom, South Africa, Vietnam, Malaysia and Sri Lanka followed to complete the top 10 list. 11,590 people migrated to Australia in March. This is down slightly from February’s 11,830 but higher than January’s 9,610. The total migration for March 2016 was only slightly higher than this year, at 12,070. The March statistics are the most recent release of figures since the government revealed major changes to the 457 work visa program on 18 April. Its replacement, the temporary skills shortage visa (TSS), will have two streams for short and medium-term employment and stricter eligibility requirements. Read original report here and ABS report here.