News

NSW town to take 200 humanitarian migrants from Iraq and Syria The New South Wales regional city of Armidale has volunteered to resettle 200 refugees from Iraq and Syria as part of Australia’s humanitarian migration program next year. The deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce announced the move would begin from February next year. NSW takes the majority of refugees resettled in Australia, and the bulk of those move to Fairfield City Council in Sydney’s west. Acceding to a report in The Guardian, refugees make up a tiny percentage (0.14%) of population growth in NSW.

Migration Amendment Bill 2017 referred to Legal & Constitutional Affairs Committee for inquiry The referral of the Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Bill 2017 has been recommended by the Senate Selection of Bills Committee to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee for further inquiry and report is due by 16 October 2017. The Bill proposes to amend the Migration Act 1958 and is targeted at deregulating the migration advice industry. This will see lawyers who hold practising certificates removed from regulation by the Migration Agents Registration Authority, so that they are regulated entirely by their relevant state or territory legal professional body. Under the proposed amendments it would be possible for someone with a legal practising certificate to be registered as a migration agent without demonstrating any knowledge of Australia’s complex migration law and policy.

Vocational education, could be the right way to go! You must have heard people saying, ‘Don’t follow the crowd, you will go no further than the crowd’. It took me ages to realize this. Thousands and Thousands of engineers and business graduates are being produced every year; but the economy is not able to meet the demand for skilled labour, thanks to the quality of education, rather the concept of education which is not preparing students to be employed. The education system has to take a new perspective, a perspective to help students specialize in their field of choice, a perspective to enhance their practical and research skills, a perspective to heighten understanding of application against theoretical knowledge, a perspective to complete studies in a shorter period of time with focused know-how, a perspective to appreciate vocational training. Most people assume vocational education only caters to mechanical or civil industries. In reality it can cater to any industry. The responsibility of vocational education system is to develop curriculum that is focused on imparting skills that are relevant to the industry. It is not about what you know, it is about what you do. Being an HR professional and having interviewed hundreds of fresh graduates every year, I got the opportunity to realise the level of skills our education system is churning out. It stirred in me the need to look at our university education system and take a fresh look at vocational education.

Macquarie University launches new medical degree which offers students experience in India Macquarie University has launched a new $250,000 medical degree this week with a unique extra to attract students – a lengthy stint in the challenging conditions of an Indian hospital. The degree will also break new ground for a public university medical course by charging full fees to all students. A highlight of the course is that third-year students will spend five months in Hyderabad, India, doing clinical training in a local hospital. The new course is outspokenly opposed by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) which says the added load of medical graduates will cause even greater bottle necks in finding internships and specialist training places for new doctors.

‘457 Visa restrictions to hit property demand’ Australian housing demand could fall by as much as 10 per cent if new rules on 457 visas resulted in a halving of future approvals, according to scenario studies by investment bank UBS. The demand for housing could fall as much as 30 per cent if student visa approvals fell by a third.

EU adopt Australian-style border protection plan to stop illegal migrants Europe, the Courier Mail reported today, will adopt an Australian-style plan to block migrants arriving by sea. The plan will include deployment of military and forcibly returning asylum-seeker boats. Senior European officials have been warning the governments about “millions of people’’ from Africa at EU’s doorstep within five years if an urgent action was not taken. Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has been very satisfied with the Australian policies in this regard and has repeatedly said that it “restored integrity to our borders.’’ “Australians support the Coalition Government’s tough decisions on borders because, like the Europeans, we don’t want to see women and children drowning at sea,’’ he said.

International education hits $24bn in Australia The last financial year has seen an unprecedented growth in international student enrolments – around $24 billion flow into the Australian economy, an 18.5 increase on 2015. According to The Australian, almost all the growth was centred on the nation’s 40 universities. The Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that overseas students spent $23.5bn on costs of living, such as accommodation, fees, food and entertainment and another $656 million on other services. While this has mainly been concentrated in Sydney and Melbourne, regional universities are also increasingly outsourcing delivery to third parties in major cities. Education Minister Simon Birmingham says the vibrancy of the international student sector is “a testament to the reputation of Australian education across the world”. “International student numbers are up 14 per cent on last year and while the sector supports more than 130,000 jobs in Australia and delivers billions of dollars to our economy, what’s even more important are the global knowledge connections the sector fosters,” he said while talking to The Australian.

Federal Government reverses decision to remove scientific professions from MLTSSL The Federal Government has reversed a previous migration decision that had threatened South Australia’s science research sector. The government’s previous decision to remove scientific professions from the skilled occupations’ list had put foreign workers in South Australia and the State’s aspiration of becoming a global medical research capital in jeopardy. Life scientists, biochemists and microbiologists were scrapped from the Federal Government’s migrant skilled occupations list after a decision to replace 457 visas – a decision that has now been reversed. The move has been welcomed by Australian Medical Research Institutes Association president Tony Cunningham, who said the new list had put Australian science at a huge strategic disadvantage. He said, “We are delighted the Government has listened to the sector and has restored core medical research occupations to the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skill List (MLTSSL),” he said. With these roles now back on the skilled occupations list, South Australia universities and SAHMRI can again recruit leading researchers from overseas. The next update by the Federal Government is due to take place in January 2018.

Occupation Ceilings Released for 2017-18 The Department of Immigration has released the occupation ceilings for the 2017-18 Program Year here.

Australia wants to simplify visa process and needs your help The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) is seeking public comment on plans to simplify Australia’s visa system for international arrivals and align it better with the nation’s economic and social priorities. According to Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton, overseas travellers contribute to the nation’s wealth and a visa system is needed that would better harness the economic and social opportunities of the legitimate travellers. The Department’s paper ‘Policy Consultation Paper – Visa Simplification: Transforming Australia’s Visa System’ is available here. You can provide your views to the Department through our online web form. Submissions can be provided until 15 September 2017.