Migration not helping skills shortage

October 16, 2008

Registered nurses, dentists, engineers, radiographers, urban planners, occupational therapists, electricians, bakers, bricklayers, mechanics, carpenters and chefs are among the top 20 occupational shortage areas identified by the states and territories.

But Immigration Department data shows overseas students under the skilled immigration category are flocking instead into hospitality management, welfare studies, hairdressing, accounting, cookery and computing.

Audio: paying to be permanent, ABC radio

17 August 2008 (Background Briefing - 50 minutes)

A high number of people who get Australian permanent resident visas don't get the skilled jobs they are trained for. And there are scams aplenty in the world of international students looking for any way to stay here.

Long, but worth a listen.

Overseas students flout work rules

August 11, 2008

INTERNATIONAL students are making a mockery of immigration laws by flouting visa conditions which limit them to 20-hour working weeks, with those driving taxis in Victoria clocking up to twice as many hours behind the wheel as they're allowed.

Despite a warning from Immigration Minister Chris Evans that taxi owners who employed students in breach of their visa restrictions risked up to two years' jail, cab advocacy bodies and student drivers revealed the industry was largely ignoring the law.

Student bodies have urged the Rudd Government to lift the 20-hour cap, saying overseas pupils should be entitled to juggle their academic commitments with as many hours of work as they can manage.

Do you get the feeling we're losing control of immigration? We're at that critical mass point where there are so many immigrants and supporters that they're doing whatever they like.

Rogue colleges facing closure

August 12, 2008

A NOTORIOUS trades college for international students that has been the subject of a federal immigration investigation in NSW may be forced to shut its lucrative Melbourne operation.

The Sydney International College of Business, which occupies several floors of the historic art-deco Newspaper House in Collins Street, has been ordered to close its Sydney headquarters. State authorities found it was understaffed and had overcrowded cookery classes in illegal kitchens.

Last year Operation Dachshund, comprising investigators from the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and the Australian Federal Police, alleged college heads sold qualifications for between $10,000 and $30,000 to visa-seeking international students who did not attend classes. The students had already paid more than $20,000 in fees for courses in commercial cookery or hospitality management.

Chinese students plagued by crime

August 8, 2008

THE Chinese consulate in Sydney has asked authorities to provide better protection for students after receiving reports of a high number of robberies and assaults.

More than 180,000 international students studied in NSW last year, and Chinese overseas students make up the largest group at most universities...

More than 150 newly arrived overseas Chinese students attended a security seminar at Parliament House last Friday. Representatives of the NSW Government, the Education and Immigration departments and the police sought to reassure them and journalists from the main Chinese news agencies that the situation was under control...

"Before I came to Australia, my impression was it was quite safe, but after this thing happened, I heard lots of terrible stories," he said.

Xiao Lei Zhang... "It's not safe here - it may be safer in China," she said.

A security seminar at Parliament House? VIP Chinese students? Don't want to concern the sleeping giant China, do we? Bow and submit ...

Indian student visas on the rise

August 4, 2008

Intensive marketing in India seems to be paying off as upwardly mobile students turn their attention towards Australian universities...

And although Chinese students still make up the majority of the international population in higher education - with 107,071 enrolments last year - Indian students are quickly catching up.

Last year more than 63,600 Indian students came to Australia to study, an increase of 63.9 per cent from the year before. In fact, India now contributes the second largest number of foreign students to the Australian education population, overtaking South Korea by nearly 30,000 students.