From 4h agoKey events4h agoBill Shorten on robodebt: ‘the people who broke the law were the Coalition government’5h agoPeter Bol ‘exonerated’ after drug test false positive5h agoFormer high court and supreme court judges publish open letter in support of Indigenous voice5h agoAlbanese rejects more talks on housing bill6h agoWelcomeFilters BETAKey events (5)Australia (10)Anthony Albanese (5)NSW (5)Labor (5)RBA (4)15s ago21.58 EDTCaitlin Cassidy
The peak body representing independent tertiary providers is calling for urgent changes to Australia’s visa system to encourage international students to complete their studies instead of gaming the system.
Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA) chief executive Troy Williams said international students were opting against completing their studies but could stay and work in Australia by transferring to a Subclass 408 visa.
The 408 visa was widely used during the pandemic for temporary visa holders that were about to have their visas expire, allowing them to stay in Australia for an additional year if they couldn’t go home due to travel restrictions and had no other visa options.
Williams said its eligibility had been amended in its scope, with “minimal consultation” by the department of home affairs, leading to an increasing number of students using it as a loophole to move to paid work.
Today, students are able to quickly transfer to a Subclass 408 visa from their student visa and be permitted to stay in Australia to undertake work. When they do this, they often abandon their studies while still owing money to their education provider and with no intention of paying.
Williams has provided formal advice to the immigration minister to only allow international students to access the visa upon completing their studies and to prevent students from applying for a subsequent or new visa once moving onto the 408.
7m ago21.52 EDT
Independents urge Labor to do more on asylum seekers and offshore detention
Independent MPs have held a press conference urging Labor to do more to end indefinite detention and give greater work and safety net rights to refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.
They also commented on the rather limited terms of the review by Dennis Richardson of the home affairs department’s management of contracts for offshore processing.
The home affairs minister, Claire O’Neil, announced the review on Monday following revelations the department granted contracts to a company linked to the subject of a bribery investigation.
MP Kylea Tink said:
I am not shy in calling out [the terms of] the review as wholly and solely inadequate. And in fact I think it’s quite politically expedient. If this government were truly interested in getting to the bottom of what is truly going on in terms of our treatment of asylum seekers they’d be looking at a far broader review, and they would be commissioning a royal commission.
Peter Dutton has said he has no memory of receiving…
2023-07-31 20:52:10
Original from www.theguardian.com
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