what’s news in immigration?

Upgrades to avoid migration debacles

25 March 2008 The Department of Immigration and Citizenship is about to roll out updates to its $495 million Systems for People project, that are designed to prevent a repeat of the Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez Solon scandals. Chief information officer, Bob Correll said “the fifth update release due out on 28 April, was the biggest since the 5-year project began almost 2 years ago. It would improve the compliance, case management and detention portals, and a new business process model would be introduced across the department's national operations.” Other portals are the new border security and general skilled migration visa. more...

Skilled immigration could earn you an above average wage in Australia

25 March 2008 A recent report by the Department of Immigration, has revealed that overseas workers, mainly in higher skilled areas, are earning wages well above their Australian counterparts. For example, IT workers in the communications trade in Australia are now earning an average of AU$25,000 more per annum than local employees. With a strong Australian dollar, overseas workers are now reaping the benefits of Australia's temporary work visa scheme, that allows workers across all industries to work in The Lucky Country for up to 4 years.   more...

AMA accused of self-interest over doctor registry opposition 

25 March 2008 The organisation representing doctors trained overseas says, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) opposes a national register of doctors because it wants colleges to maintain control of the system.   more...

Record migration but more needed

25 March 2008 Record migration from overseas is being hailed as a boost to Victoria, but economists warn that the state will struggle to build the homes it plans for the new arrivals. Victorian Treasurer, John Lenders, released a statement this week that said “Victoria had seen its highest ever net overseas migration, attracting 48,000 new immigrants in the year to September 2007”.   more...

Medibank Private issues 457 visa warning to IT employers

25 March 2008 Employers in the IT sector are being warned of exorbitant medical costs for uninsured employees working on 457 visas, following confirmation last week the government plans to streamline the application process. According to Medibank Private, thousands of 457 visa holders are uninsured, despite immigration regulations specifying that sponsoring employers are responsible for the cost of medical treatment and repatriation (if required), for the visa holder and any dependents.   more...

Faster work visas set to tackle skills crisis

20 March 2008 The federal government will move to tackle Australia's skills crisis by speeding up the processing of controversial 457 work visas, looking at proposals which would allow accredited companies to gain rapid results on work visa requests. one of the biggest users of 457 workers, NSW Health, is likely to be one of the accredited companies, along with large mining companies.  

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Immigration fuelling population growth: Govt

27 March 2008 Record numbers of skilled workers migrating to Australia have helped make immigration account for more than half of the country's latest population growth, with 56% of the growth that's occurring in our population, is coming from immigration, that's largely driven by the demand for skills, filling the needs of the economy.  

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Bligh backs meatworks' push for foreign workers

25 March 2008 An abattoir remains closed in south-west Queensland because it cannot get approval for overseas workers to be employed at the plant. Premier, Anna Bligh, and State Government departments, are now working to overcome the problem. more...

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