Paralleling the growth of India’s economy has been the concomitant increase in India’s global engagement. While this has been most manifest in the growth of trade and financial flows, the movement of people has also become more important. Since the 1830s, international migration from India under British rule comprised largely of unskilled workers from poorer socio-economic groups who went to other colonised countries. Between 1834 and 1937, nearly 30 million people left India and nearly four-fifths returned. Post-Independence, migrants came from richer socio-economic groups, from wealthier parts of the country and, with the exception of the large migration to the Middle East, went to industrialised
The migrant stream to the United States in particular has been the most highly educated, both compared to other immigrants into the US, as well as to other Indian migrant streams abroad. Since the 1990s, increasing numbers of skilled emigrants from India have also been moving to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore.
The economic impact of international migration on India has been primarily shaped by two key channels — financial and human capital. The oil boom-induced Gulf migration in the early 1970s is when efforts at attracting inflows from Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) began. Since then financial remittance has emerged as an important part of India’s balance of payments. Remittances were virtually negligible in 1970, rose to $2.8 billion in 1980, stagnated during the 1980s and even dropped slightly to $2.4 billion in 1990. Since then they have climbed steeply to $11.1 billion in 1999 and over $50 billion — nearly 5 percent of GDP — in 2009.
Paralleling the inflows of remittances have been NRI inflows in the capital account. Although schemes to attract the latter were introduced in 1970, a decade later deposits barely exceeded one billion dollars. During the 1980s, while remittances languished, deposits accelerated. Following the onset of the 1991 reforms NRI deposits grew rapidly accounting for nearly 10 percent ($37 billion) of the accretion to India’s foreign exchange reserves in the last two decades.
This spurt has in part been due to the rapid growth in the stock of India citizens residing abroad, the degree to which their earning power has increased and policy changes including liberalisation of the foreign exchange regime and gold imports (with the latter resulting in bringing remittances from the Middle East through official channels, rather than hawala
markets), and of course India’s much better growth prospects.
In contrast to the large inflows in the current account and banking deposits in the capital account, NRI-FDI has been remarkably limited in part because of an unfavourable policy regime that penalises NRIs from remitting the gains from FDI.
In addition to the obvious positive impact for recipient households, financial remittances have had considerable systemic effects on India’s balance of payments, allowing much greater trade deficits than would otherwise have been possible, stabilising the rupee exchange rate and thereby giving India’s central bank greater monetary policy autonomy.
These inflows have been much more important for some states than others. The most obvious case is Kerala where remittances account for about a quarter of state net domestic product with wide ranging economic and social consequences. Given Kerala’s political economy, it is not surprising that most of this money fuelled a consumption boom (with no investments in manufacturing) and the resulting demand has driven growth in the service sector, most of which (such as construction) are non-tradeables. Recently however, these inflows have fuelled investments in the hospitality industry and a mushrooming of private institutions in health care and education.
A second channel through which international migration has affected India is its human capital. The effects of skilled migration have been ambiguous. On the positive side, the success of India migrants overseas has been good for India’s reputation. In addition, this segment of the diaspora has woven a web of cross-national networks, thereby facilitating the flow of tacit information, commercial and business ideas, and technologies into India. It has also facilitated “home sourcing”, as exemplified by the rapid growth of India’s diamond cutting and polishing industry. The Indian diaspora has also had important trade enhancing and investment effects.
Source:http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/features/migrationindia_480537.html
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
NZ, Australia sharing fingerprint data
New Zealand and Australian immigration officials have begun sharing fingerprint information, hoping to crack down on people using false identity papers.
Immigration NZ program manager for identity and biometrics, Arron Baker, said the measure was primarily aimed at people applying for refugee status, particularly those with no identity or with no passports.
The system would help Immigration NZ combat fraud and strengthen border security by helping identify early in the immigration process people with criminal histories or those using false identities, Baker said.
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"Organised crime groups and illegal migrants are increasingly using identity and passport fraud to evade detection," Baker said.
He said Immigration NZ had a database of about 4700 fingerprints collected from people trying to illegally enter the country over a number of years.
Source http://news.smh.com.au
Immigration NZ program manager for identity and biometrics, Arron Baker, said the measure was primarily aimed at people applying for refugee status, particularly those with no identity or with no passports.
The system would help Immigration NZ combat fraud and strengthen border security by helping identify early in the immigration process people with criminal histories or those using false identities, Baker said.
Advertisement: Story continues below
"Organised crime groups and illegal migrants are increasingly using identity and passport fraud to evade detection," Baker said.
He said Immigration NZ had a database of about 4700 fingerprints collected from people trying to illegally enter the country over a number of years.
Source http://news.smh.com.au
Immigration Impacts Australia Vote
CANBERRA—Immigration policy has emerged as a key theme in the closely fought Australian election campaign, particularly in big cities like Sydney, where new migrants often first settle and where pollsters say the vote will be won or lost.
The major parties vying in Saturday's election have both moved to the right on immigration in recent times, amid a public backlash against a perceived uptick in illegal immigration.
Critics say political point-scoring over a small number of asylum speakers is clouding more pressing and complex issues, such as how infrastructure and resources can be managed to account for Australia's labor needs and a growing work force. Each boat arrival has spurred populist rhetoric and been used as a platform by some politicians to push for curbs on migration more generally.
Business groups worry that amid that rhetoric the long-term interest of the country is being neglected: Population growth is necessary in any strong economy.
"Population growth, and immigration as part of it, are an important and positive part of our nation's history," said Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Katie Lahey. "There's a temptation around election time to pitch to perceived short-term self interest rather than the long-term national interest."
Ms. Lahey argues population growth will offset the effects of Australia's aging population and ensure future governments have the tax revenue to fund health care, education, infrastructure and environmental measures.
Curbs on skilled migration are of particular concern in resource-rich states like Western Australia, where demand for labor is being buoyed by China's appetite for natural resources. The jobless rate in the province is just 4%, against a national figure of 5.3%.
Australia's Treasury has forecast the population will grow to around 36 million by 2050, from around 22 million now. By then, about 8.1 million Australians, or nearly a quarter of the population, will be aged over 65 years, with the ratio of working-aged people to every aged pensioner falling from five now to just 2.7.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd endorsed the idea of a "Big Australia" but successor Julia Gillard argues population growth must be sustainable.
Tony Abbott, who leads the main opposition Liberal-National coalition of center-right parties, is promising to reduce the annual migration rate to 170,000 by the end of his first term if he wins power, from around 300,000 last year. Skilled migrants made up over a third of that 300,000 tally.
Labor already has put in place policies to cap migration, including shifting to a much narrower list of professions on its "skilled occupation list"--a policy criticized by some business groups.
It isn't just an increase in new migrants that has caused concern in some quarters.
Australia is experiencing urban drift. Official population data show a surge of people moving to capital cities: Sydney added almost 24,000 people in the past five years.
Commonwealth Securities Chief Economist Craig James says the fault isn't with population growth but the "failure of state and local governments" to ensure land supply and remove impediments to investors and developers.
But the upward pressure on house prices worries some mortgage-belt voters. And while refugees account for only a fraction of Australia's annual migrant intake, a recent surge in boat people--some 86 refugee boats have reached Australian waters so far this year--has seen them bear the brunt of the anti-migrant rhetoric.
Both major parties favor offshore processing of refugees, but differ on where this should be. Critics, including the small Greens party, describe such policy as a "race to the bottom" that doesn't consider Australia's future need for workers.
Source:http://online.wsj.com
The major parties vying in Saturday's election have both moved to the right on immigration in recent times, amid a public backlash against a perceived uptick in illegal immigration.
Critics say political point-scoring over a small number of asylum speakers is clouding more pressing and complex issues, such as how infrastructure and resources can be managed to account for Australia's labor needs and a growing work force. Each boat arrival has spurred populist rhetoric and been used as a platform by some politicians to push for curbs on migration more generally.
Business groups worry that amid that rhetoric the long-term interest of the country is being neglected: Population growth is necessary in any strong economy.
"Population growth, and immigration as part of it, are an important and positive part of our nation's history," said Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Katie Lahey. "There's a temptation around election time to pitch to perceived short-term self interest rather than the long-term national interest."
Ms. Lahey argues population growth will offset the effects of Australia's aging population and ensure future governments have the tax revenue to fund health care, education, infrastructure and environmental measures.
Curbs on skilled migration are of particular concern in resource-rich states like Western Australia, where demand for labor is being buoyed by China's appetite for natural resources. The jobless rate in the province is just 4%, against a national figure of 5.3%.
Australia's Treasury has forecast the population will grow to around 36 million by 2050, from around 22 million now. By then, about 8.1 million Australians, or nearly a quarter of the population, will be aged over 65 years, with the ratio of working-aged people to every aged pensioner falling from five now to just 2.7.
Former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd endorsed the idea of a "Big Australia" but successor Julia Gillard argues population growth must be sustainable.
Tony Abbott, who leads the main opposition Liberal-National coalition of center-right parties, is promising to reduce the annual migration rate to 170,000 by the end of his first term if he wins power, from around 300,000 last year. Skilled migrants made up over a third of that 300,000 tally.
Labor already has put in place policies to cap migration, including shifting to a much narrower list of professions on its "skilled occupation list"--a policy criticized by some business groups.
It isn't just an increase in new migrants that has caused concern in some quarters.
Australia is experiencing urban drift. Official population data show a surge of people moving to capital cities: Sydney added almost 24,000 people in the past five years.
Commonwealth Securities Chief Economist Craig James says the fault isn't with population growth but the "failure of state and local governments" to ensure land supply and remove impediments to investors and developers.
But the upward pressure on house prices worries some mortgage-belt voters. And while refugees account for only a fraction of Australia's annual migrant intake, a recent surge in boat people--some 86 refugee boats have reached Australian waters so far this year--has seen them bear the brunt of the anti-migrant rhetoric.
Both major parties favor offshore processing of refugees, but differ on where this should be. Critics, including the small Greens party, describe such policy as a "race to the bottom" that doesn't consider Australia's future need for workers.
Source:http://online.wsj.com
Why a sustainable Australia needs multiculturalism
The debate about a sustainable population for Australia only makes sense if it involves all Australians - as citizens, as producers, and as consumers. So the debate has to make sure everyone feels they have a stake and their input is respected; not only the middle aged, middle class, male and generally White people who dominated Dick Smith’s “population puzzle” on the ABC last week, and were barely leavened in the Q&A studio audience by Suvendrini Perera (Curtin University academic and Fairfax OpEd writer) on the panel, and Tanveer Ahmed and his dad on the floor.
Unfortunately the arguments of people like Dick Smith, while apparently well-intentioned, may well have racist effects. Immigration levels can be an issue for many people as part of the wider debate about population, but the legitimate presence of generations of immigrants and their children should not be. If immigrants are made to feel somehow they are the cause of problems other Australians face, this sets up a very dangerous basis for the debate.
Our current “national conversations” about migration and the rather different set of issues raised by asylum seekers, has not been helped when public opinion leaders such as politicians give license to prejudice by making anti-immigrant speech somehow OK. Both the major parties have taken short-term advantage of the attention that fear and hate foster. Whether it is “hearing peoples’ concerns about asylum seekers” or “the best Australians are locally born not immigrants” there is a fairly obvious message to those who wish to hear it that immigrants are have less value or legitimacy than other Australians. With asylum seekers now universally and so wrongly labeled as “illegal immigrants” the situation can only deteriorate. And that’s unsustainable!
Multiculturalism and sustainability
So let’s talk about multiculturalism as the basis for a sustainable population, and why its principles have to be part of any useful debate on sustainability - of people, of lifestyle, of environment, of employment, of economy and of the future. Everyone has to have buy-in to the debate if they are expected to own the outcomes. Non-Anglo Australians cannot be marginalised (as the government may already have done by placing only one “person of colour” Fairfax columnist Waleed Aly on only one its three advisory bodies on population) and then be expected to feel committed to the outcome of the process; after all, it’s their extended families that are one of the targets for the reduction in immigration. It’s their relatives in refugee camps who’ll be kept out or turned back; it’s often their expectations that are thwarted by rapidly changing immigration rules; and they’ve been the targets of racist attacks.
Their family consumption patterns will need to change just as much as anyone else’s, and they’ll need and want to know why. Their kids will need the training and support, and their older people the care and geriatic services. In the latter case non-Anglos made up 40 per cent of the over 70-year-olds at the 2006 Census, and could be creeping up to half-way for the 2011 Census.
Cultural diversity already contributes a critical component to our productive wealth and our community services. Whether we are talking health or the service sector or education or industry, turn off the tap on immigrants and you don’t just reduce demand, you reduce skill supply as well. A good way of turning off the tap is to make potential immigrants we do want and need, feel they’d be better off somewhere, almost anywhere, else. One of the most challenging areas for government and opposition is thus their level of recognition of these issues, and the policy settings that result from this awareness (or lack of it).
Politics, policies and cultural diversity
If we take the largest Commonwealth spending areas and the places where new ideas or recycled old ones have been most evident, cultural diversity hangs well below the radar. It may well be that both the ALP and the Opposition believe that most non-Anglo people are working class and rusted on to Labor; they therefore require no feeding for the ALP, and will be immune to any seduction by the Coalition.
Indeed studies by Melbourne social scientists Bob Birrell and Katherine Betts indicate that in the darkest days of the Howard ascendancy, Labor had two core groups holding it up - inner-city trendies and working class non-Anglo immigrants. That of course may have changed - with so many immigrants in the past decade the immigrant constituency is more diverse, in part far wealthier, and more politically astute than in the past.
The loss of Bennelong in 2007 was caused by the desertion of more conservative Asian voters who turned to Labor; Howard has been working hard in the region to try to lure them back to what the Liberals hope is their “natural” home. The gains in Queensland were from upwardly aspirational skilled workers, some of whom were earlier immigrants or their children, but not a group excited by multiculturalism. Indeed most of the people who really like multiculturalism may have already made their move across to the Greens.
Given there is no single “ethnic” or immigrant constituency, what are the issues that affect immigrants and ethnic minorities more dramatically than other segments of contemporary Australia? In simple terms they are those that relate to age group (older people, youth), language and communication, occupation and employment, extended family relations and human rights (often in quite complex ways). For some groups there’s also an interest in competitive leverage on influencing Australia’s foreign policies (e.g. Muslims v Jews over policy in the Middle East - and yes, they are religious groups but they act as ethnic lobbies).
Let’s recall that in 1989 the Office of Multicultural Affairs was in PM Hawke’s portfolio, and the ALP won an election asserting the value of the concept and the importance of productive diversity. Two decades on, and we have to search under rocks to find either major party saying anything of any interest.
The missing link
Neither of the major parties has a policy perspective that identifies or addresses cultural diversity as a dimension of policy planning or implementation. Neither treats racism as the social poison it is.
A generation ago the Office of Multicultural Affairs played a key role in understanding social change and advising on policy to both Fraser and Hawke, while the government had independent research advice from the Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research. Policy across the board, from policing to poverty alleviation, from aged care to adolescent crises response, from child care to curriculum development, was instructed by evidence and policy debate that added to the stock of social knowledge. With the destruction of these agencies we have had 15 years of policy made on the basis of hunch, prejudice and hysteria. Not good enough, and not the way we should be going in the next generation.
We need a national office that focuses on cultural diversity issues high up the hierarchy of government, and a strong independent research base. Sadly for Australia’s future, which would benefit from effective social inclusion, positive community relations and good social and cultural planning, neither of the main contestants has placed those initiatives on the agenda.
Source:http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10857
Unfortunately the arguments of people like Dick Smith, while apparently well-intentioned, may well have racist effects. Immigration levels can be an issue for many people as part of the wider debate about population, but the legitimate presence of generations of immigrants and their children should not be. If immigrants are made to feel somehow they are the cause of problems other Australians face, this sets up a very dangerous basis for the debate.
Our current “national conversations” about migration and the rather different set of issues raised by asylum seekers, has not been helped when public opinion leaders such as politicians give license to prejudice by making anti-immigrant speech somehow OK. Both the major parties have taken short-term advantage of the attention that fear and hate foster. Whether it is “hearing peoples’ concerns about asylum seekers” or “the best Australians are locally born not immigrants” there is a fairly obvious message to those who wish to hear it that immigrants are have less value or legitimacy than other Australians. With asylum seekers now universally and so wrongly labeled as “illegal immigrants” the situation can only deteriorate. And that’s unsustainable!
Multiculturalism and sustainability
So let’s talk about multiculturalism as the basis for a sustainable population, and why its principles have to be part of any useful debate on sustainability - of people, of lifestyle, of environment, of employment, of economy and of the future. Everyone has to have buy-in to the debate if they are expected to own the outcomes. Non-Anglo Australians cannot be marginalised (as the government may already have done by placing only one “person of colour” Fairfax columnist Waleed Aly on only one its three advisory bodies on population) and then be expected to feel committed to the outcome of the process; after all, it’s their extended families that are one of the targets for the reduction in immigration. It’s their relatives in refugee camps who’ll be kept out or turned back; it’s often their expectations that are thwarted by rapidly changing immigration rules; and they’ve been the targets of racist attacks.
Their family consumption patterns will need to change just as much as anyone else’s, and they’ll need and want to know why. Their kids will need the training and support, and their older people the care and geriatic services. In the latter case non-Anglos made up 40 per cent of the over 70-year-olds at the 2006 Census, and could be creeping up to half-way for the 2011 Census.
Cultural diversity already contributes a critical component to our productive wealth and our community services. Whether we are talking health or the service sector or education or industry, turn off the tap on immigrants and you don’t just reduce demand, you reduce skill supply as well. A good way of turning off the tap is to make potential immigrants we do want and need, feel they’d be better off somewhere, almost anywhere, else. One of the most challenging areas for government and opposition is thus their level of recognition of these issues, and the policy settings that result from this awareness (or lack of it).
Politics, policies and cultural diversity
If we take the largest Commonwealth spending areas and the places where new ideas or recycled old ones have been most evident, cultural diversity hangs well below the radar. It may well be that both the ALP and the Opposition believe that most non-Anglo people are working class and rusted on to Labor; they therefore require no feeding for the ALP, and will be immune to any seduction by the Coalition.
Indeed studies by Melbourne social scientists Bob Birrell and Katherine Betts indicate that in the darkest days of the Howard ascendancy, Labor had two core groups holding it up - inner-city trendies and working class non-Anglo immigrants. That of course may have changed - with so many immigrants in the past decade the immigrant constituency is more diverse, in part far wealthier, and more politically astute than in the past.
The loss of Bennelong in 2007 was caused by the desertion of more conservative Asian voters who turned to Labor; Howard has been working hard in the region to try to lure them back to what the Liberals hope is their “natural” home. The gains in Queensland were from upwardly aspirational skilled workers, some of whom were earlier immigrants or their children, but not a group excited by multiculturalism. Indeed most of the people who really like multiculturalism may have already made their move across to the Greens.
Given there is no single “ethnic” or immigrant constituency, what are the issues that affect immigrants and ethnic minorities more dramatically than other segments of contemporary Australia? In simple terms they are those that relate to age group (older people, youth), language and communication, occupation and employment, extended family relations and human rights (often in quite complex ways). For some groups there’s also an interest in competitive leverage on influencing Australia’s foreign policies (e.g. Muslims v Jews over policy in the Middle East - and yes, they are religious groups but they act as ethnic lobbies).
Let’s recall that in 1989 the Office of Multicultural Affairs was in PM Hawke’s portfolio, and the ALP won an election asserting the value of the concept and the importance of productive diversity. Two decades on, and we have to search under rocks to find either major party saying anything of any interest.
The missing link
Neither of the major parties has a policy perspective that identifies or addresses cultural diversity as a dimension of policy planning or implementation. Neither treats racism as the social poison it is.
A generation ago the Office of Multicultural Affairs played a key role in understanding social change and advising on policy to both Fraser and Hawke, while the government had independent research advice from the Bureau of Immigration, Multicultural and Population Research. Policy across the board, from policing to poverty alleviation, from aged care to adolescent crises response, from child care to curriculum development, was instructed by evidence and policy debate that added to the stock of social knowledge. With the destruction of these agencies we have had 15 years of policy made on the basis of hunch, prejudice and hysteria. Not good enough, and not the way we should be going in the next generation.
We need a national office that focuses on cultural diversity issues high up the hierarchy of government, and a strong independent research base. Sadly for Australia’s future, which would benefit from effective social inclusion, positive community relations and good social and cultural planning, neither of the main contestants has placed those initiatives on the agenda.
Source:http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=10857
Broad effort to lift English proficiency
ALL students, not just internationals, will be included in an official strategy to lift standards of academic English at university.
Good practice principles for English, drawn up for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations following evidence of poor English among overseas-born graduates, will be extended to cover all students and higher education providers, the HES understands.
But there are concerns about enforcement, cost and a more crowded curriculum.
The overseas student industry sought to respond to alarming findings by Monash University's Bob Birrell, who revealed that more than one-third of former overseas students who had graduated from local institutions and won permanent residency as skilled migrants had English language scores too low for university study or professional work.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
In 2007, a symposium involving the export education industry urged better teaching of communication skills within academic programs for international as well as local students. These skills were often taught by a unit separate from the various faculties. Last year DEEWR unveiled the good practice principles, which the Australian Universities Quality Agency monitors during audits.
According to International Student Security, a book due to be published next month, universities should make English language proficiency a mandatory requirement in degrees for all students. "If we want to lift the bar on English language competency, we have to get beyond the idea that it is a remedial problem that a few hours in a semester can solve," said co-author Simon Marginson.
Almost one-third of the 200 overseas students interviewed for the book reported problems with academic English.
Professor Marginson warned that action to boost English proficiency would come at significant cost. In some cases, he said, English-as-a-second-language teachers could work in class alongside the academics teaching the discipline.
Embedding English proficiency in degrees would improve the welfare of international students and put the industry ahead of competitors in Canada, Britain and the US, he said.
It would also benefit domestic students in terms of improving their productivity.
Professor Marginson said strong international student demand for English skills would likely underpin the market despite any rise in tuition fees to cover costs. "On balance, I think we would gain rather than lose overall, and position ourselves better globally," he said.
Alex Barthel, public officer of the Association for Academic Language and Learning, said many universities were already moving to embed English language skills in their curriculums.
But the department's principles needed more teeth. "I'd prefer it to be happening across the board, and faster," he said.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au
Good practice principles for English, drawn up for the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations following evidence of poor English among overseas-born graduates, will be extended to cover all students and higher education providers, the HES understands.
But there are concerns about enforcement, cost and a more crowded curriculum.
The overseas student industry sought to respond to alarming findings by Monash University's Bob Birrell, who revealed that more than one-third of former overseas students who had graduated from local institutions and won permanent residency as skilled migrants had English language scores too low for university study or professional work.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
In 2007, a symposium involving the export education industry urged better teaching of communication skills within academic programs for international as well as local students. These skills were often taught by a unit separate from the various faculties. Last year DEEWR unveiled the good practice principles, which the Australian Universities Quality Agency monitors during audits.
According to International Student Security, a book due to be published next month, universities should make English language proficiency a mandatory requirement in degrees for all students. "If we want to lift the bar on English language competency, we have to get beyond the idea that it is a remedial problem that a few hours in a semester can solve," said co-author Simon Marginson.
Almost one-third of the 200 overseas students interviewed for the book reported problems with academic English.
Professor Marginson warned that action to boost English proficiency would come at significant cost. In some cases, he said, English-as-a-second-language teachers could work in class alongside the academics teaching the discipline.
Embedding English proficiency in degrees would improve the welfare of international students and put the industry ahead of competitors in Canada, Britain and the US, he said.
It would also benefit domestic students in terms of improving their productivity.
Professor Marginson said strong international student demand for English skills would likely underpin the market despite any rise in tuition fees to cover costs. "On balance, I think we would gain rather than lose overall, and position ourselves better globally," he said.
Alex Barthel, public officer of the Association for Academic Language and Learning, said many universities were already moving to embed English language skills in their curriculums.
But the department's principles needed more teeth. "I'd prefer it to be happening across the board, and faster," he said.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
College collapses spark fresh probe
VICTORIA'S education regulation agency is under investigation over its ability to do its job properly following a spate of college collapses that have affected thousands of international students.
With crackdowns on so-called dodgy colleges under way, Victoria's Auditor-General, Des Pearson, is examining whether the government body that approves private trades colleges to operate is regulating them properly. The agency, the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, is responsible for registering, monitoring and regulating all education providers in Victoria, including private trades colleges that cater to international students.
In the past five years unscrupulous college operators, corrupt education agents and immigration rorts have grown at an unprecedented rate as colleges, particularly in the training sector, have flourished to meet demand from visa-seeking foreign students. Exploitation of international students by college operators who have put profits ahead of education and welfare has undermined the viability of Australia's $17 billion international education industry.
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Since its inception in 2007 the registration authority has attracted intense criticism from bureaucrats, college operators and education industry insiders who argue the under-resourced regulator has been unable to keep pace with the growth of the international education industry in Victoria.
Critics have argued the regulator failed to crackdown on sham colleges, did not enforce regulations rigorously and used ill-equipped auditors to inspect colleges. The authority's director, Lynn Glover, has previously denied the agency is under-resourced or unable to do its job effectively.
Last year state and federal authorities, which share jurisdiction over international education, moved to crack down on unscrupulous college operators, with the Victorian government boosting the authority's power to close bad colleges.
At least 11 private trades colleges catering to international students have closed since July last year, affecting an estimated 5500 foreign students. It is unclear how many trades colleges with only domestic students have been closed in the same period. The Auditor-General's report is expected to be tabled by October.
Meanwhile, his website says: ''In recent times a number of organisations registered to provide vocational education and training have gone out of business. Issues have also been raised about the integrity of operators. The audit will assess the effectiveness of the VRQA in meeting its legislative responsibilities for regulating vocational education and training providers.''
The Council of Australian Governments has agreed to establish a national regulator for the vocational education and training sector. The new regulator will be a Commonwealth statutory authority responsible for registration and audit of trades colleges.
Victoria and Western Australia are the only jurisdictions that have refused to sign over their powers to the federal government. They have instead agreed to enact legislation that mirrors new Commonwealth legislation.
The Australian Council for Private Education and Training, a national industry body, yesterday declined to comment.
Source:http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/college-collapses-spark-fresh-probe-20100816-126xy.html
With crackdowns on so-called dodgy colleges under way, Victoria's Auditor-General, Des Pearson, is examining whether the government body that approves private trades colleges to operate is regulating them properly. The agency, the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority, is responsible for registering, monitoring and regulating all education providers in Victoria, including private trades colleges that cater to international students.
In the past five years unscrupulous college operators, corrupt education agents and immigration rorts have grown at an unprecedented rate as colleges, particularly in the training sector, have flourished to meet demand from visa-seeking foreign students. Exploitation of international students by college operators who have put profits ahead of education and welfare has undermined the viability of Australia's $17 billion international education industry.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Since its inception in 2007 the registration authority has attracted intense criticism from bureaucrats, college operators and education industry insiders who argue the under-resourced regulator has been unable to keep pace with the growth of the international education industry in Victoria.
Critics have argued the regulator failed to crackdown on sham colleges, did not enforce regulations rigorously and used ill-equipped auditors to inspect colleges. The authority's director, Lynn Glover, has previously denied the agency is under-resourced or unable to do its job effectively.
Last year state and federal authorities, which share jurisdiction over international education, moved to crack down on unscrupulous college operators, with the Victorian government boosting the authority's power to close bad colleges.
At least 11 private trades colleges catering to international students have closed since July last year, affecting an estimated 5500 foreign students. It is unclear how many trades colleges with only domestic students have been closed in the same period. The Auditor-General's report is expected to be tabled by October.
Meanwhile, his website says: ''In recent times a number of organisations registered to provide vocational education and training have gone out of business. Issues have also been raised about the integrity of operators. The audit will assess the effectiveness of the VRQA in meeting its legislative responsibilities for regulating vocational education and training providers.''
The Council of Australian Governments has agreed to establish a national regulator for the vocational education and training sector. The new regulator will be a Commonwealth statutory authority responsible for registration and audit of trades colleges.
Victoria and Western Australia are the only jurisdictions that have refused to sign over their powers to the federal government. They have instead agreed to enact legislation that mirrors new Commonwealth legislation.
The Australian Council for Private Education and Training, a national industry body, yesterday declined to comment.
Source:http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/college-collapses-spark-fresh-probe-20100816-126xy.html
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Time to take a breather on migration numbers
HAVE you found yourself waiting for three months to get an appointment with your hairdresser?
You may wonder why I am asking.
The reason is according to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's skilled occupation list, a qualified hairdresser is entitled to 60 points when applying to enter Australia as a skilled migrant, the same number available to an orthopaedic surgeon. You will also be pleased to know this list has been revised - deleting hairdressers and assorted other occupations - but for all potential migrants who held student visas at the beginning of the year the old list applies until the end of 2012.
There is no doubt the student visa program had been getting out of hand. In 2002-03, there were 163,000 student visas granted; in 2008-09, the number had risen to 320,000, a near doubling across a six-year period. The main source countries are India and China.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
In turn, the skilled occupation list was the mechanism whereby a student visa could convert to permanent residence. In too many cases, the education tail was wagging the immigration dog.
The effect of the new list on the number of overseas students in Australia will be lagged, given the transitional arrangements. But the flow of new students will fall, particularly in vocational education. Most occupations on the new list require university qualifications. Is this a good or bad thing? There is no doubt that having about 600,000 overseas students in the country at the same time has created pressures, particularly on accommodation and public transport. Fewer overseas students will ease these pressures.
At the same time, the business models of some educational providers will be exposed as unsustainable. And some rethinking will be required on federal government funding for universities, as the cross-subsidisation from overseas student fee income dwindles.
Another area of strong growth in temporary migration has been the business (long stay) visa category, the 457 visa entrants. In 2007-08, there were 110,000 457 visas granted, up from a figure of 71,000 in 2005-06. The most common source country of 457 visa holders is Britain.
So what has been happening to the numbers of permanent migrants? Under the capped scheme by which skilled and family migrants enter the country permanently, the government sets down the planning levels each year. Again, the number of migrants has risen significantly in the past decade.
In 2001-02, the numbers in the migration program totalled 93,000; in 2008-09, they had grown to 171,000. The plan for this year is about this mark. About two-thirds of the migration program entrants are in the skilled category, although significant numbers (50,000 to 60,000) do enter under the family category.
The overall impression of Australia's immigration policy in the past decade is one of controlled and uncontrolled expansion that has occurred at almost breakneck speed, from one year to the next.
A case for a breather has existed for some time. This has been acknowledged by the Labor government through the recent changes to the regulations affecting overseas students and 457 visa holders, as well as keeping steady the planned numbers in the migration program in the past few years.
So what should be made of the Coalition's proposed new target for net overseas migration of 170,000, down from a figure of close to 300,000 for the year ending December 2008.
The first thing to say is the formulation of the target is strange and unworkable. Governments cannot control net overseas migration directly as the components include emigration and return of Australians. One of the reasons we reached the figure of 300,000 was because so many Australians working overseas decided to flee the poor economic conditions and come home.
Moreover, the immigration intake is made up of capped and uncapped components, the latter for temporary entrants. Short of altering this arrangement, there is only so much a government can do to exert its control over the annual net migration numbers.
Having said that, there is scope for a government to alter the planning levels in the migration program by reducing the targets within the subgroups. It is feasible to cut the entrants under the family category, for instance.
But one of the strange aspects of the Coalition's policy is its insistence that "two-thirds of our permanent immigration program will be for the purposes of skilled migration", when that proportion has been the case for some time.
One of the more constructive aspects of the Coalition's policy is the suggestion that a white paper be produced to "reframe the structure and composition of Australia's immigration program to address the policy challenges of sustainable population growth".
The economics of immigration are clear that there are limits to a country's annual capacity to absorb new migrants without undue adjustment pressures. In the past, a measured immigration program kept below that speed limit; it is not clear this has been the case in the past decade.
Judith Sloan is a professor at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, and a board member of the Lowy Institute for International Policy.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/time-to-take-a-breather-on-migration-numbers/story-e6frg6zo-1225902745750
You may wonder why I am asking.
The reason is according to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship's skilled occupation list, a qualified hairdresser is entitled to 60 points when applying to enter Australia as a skilled migrant, the same number available to an orthopaedic surgeon. You will also be pleased to know this list has been revised - deleting hairdressers and assorted other occupations - but for all potential migrants who held student visas at the beginning of the year the old list applies until the end of 2012.
There is no doubt the student visa program had been getting out of hand. In 2002-03, there were 163,000 student visas granted; in 2008-09, the number had risen to 320,000, a near doubling across a six-year period. The main source countries are India and China.
Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
In turn, the skilled occupation list was the mechanism whereby a student visa could convert to permanent residence. In too many cases, the education tail was wagging the immigration dog.
The effect of the new list on the number of overseas students in Australia will be lagged, given the transitional arrangements. But the flow of new students will fall, particularly in vocational education. Most occupations on the new list require university qualifications. Is this a good or bad thing? There is no doubt that having about 600,000 overseas students in the country at the same time has created pressures, particularly on accommodation and public transport. Fewer overseas students will ease these pressures.
At the same time, the business models of some educational providers will be exposed as unsustainable. And some rethinking will be required on federal government funding for universities, as the cross-subsidisation from overseas student fee income dwindles.
Another area of strong growth in temporary migration has been the business (long stay) visa category, the 457 visa entrants. In 2007-08, there were 110,000 457 visas granted, up from a figure of 71,000 in 2005-06. The most common source country of 457 visa holders is Britain.
So what has been happening to the numbers of permanent migrants? Under the capped scheme by which skilled and family migrants enter the country permanently, the government sets down the planning levels each year. Again, the number of migrants has risen significantly in the past decade.
In 2001-02, the numbers in the migration program totalled 93,000; in 2008-09, they had grown to 171,000. The plan for this year is about this mark. About two-thirds of the migration program entrants are in the skilled category, although significant numbers (50,000 to 60,000) do enter under the family category.
The overall impression of Australia's immigration policy in the past decade is one of controlled and uncontrolled expansion that has occurred at almost breakneck speed, from one year to the next.
A case for a breather has existed for some time. This has been acknowledged by the Labor government through the recent changes to the regulations affecting overseas students and 457 visa holders, as well as keeping steady the planned numbers in the migration program in the past few years.
So what should be made of the Coalition's proposed new target for net overseas migration of 170,000, down from a figure of close to 300,000 for the year ending December 2008.
The first thing to say is the formulation of the target is strange and unworkable. Governments cannot control net overseas migration directly as the components include emigration and return of Australians. One of the reasons we reached the figure of 300,000 was because so many Australians working overseas decided to flee the poor economic conditions and come home.
Moreover, the immigration intake is made up of capped and uncapped components, the latter for temporary entrants. Short of altering this arrangement, there is only so much a government can do to exert its control over the annual net migration numbers.
Having said that, there is scope for a government to alter the planning levels in the migration program by reducing the targets within the subgroups. It is feasible to cut the entrants under the family category, for instance.
But one of the strange aspects of the Coalition's policy is its insistence that "two-thirds of our permanent immigration program will be for the purposes of skilled migration", when that proportion has been the case for some time.
One of the more constructive aspects of the Coalition's policy is the suggestion that a white paper be produced to "reframe the structure and composition of Australia's immigration program to address the policy challenges of sustainable population growth".
The economics of immigration are clear that there are limits to a country's annual capacity to absorb new migrants without undue adjustment pressures. In the past, a measured immigration program kept below that speed limit; it is not clear this has been the case in the past decade.
Judith Sloan is a professor at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne, and a board member of the Lowy Institute for International Policy.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/time-to-take-a-breather-on-migration-numbers/story-e6frg6zo-1225902745750
Coalition will cut immigration says Opposition leader Tony Abbott
OPPOSITION leader Tony Abbott has vowed to put a lid on Australia's population growth by slashing immigration by nearly half over the next three years.
Mr Abbott will announce today a Coalition Government would cut net overseas migration from nearly 300,000 to 170,000, and reduce the nation's population growth from 2.1 per cent to 1.4 per cent.
Echoing the mantra of former prime minister John Howard, Mr Abbott told The Sunday Telegraph: "We will determine who comes to our country and the circumstances under which they come."
The planned cuts will focus on family and student visa programs, while skilled migration would largely be quarantined.
Mr Abbott said a "fair dinkum" debate was needed after Prime Minister Julia Gillard's attempts to distance the population debate from immigration levels.
The Coalition's policy, to be announced today in the lead up to the first and only leaders debate tonight, sets up an historic split on bipartisan immigration policy.
The immigration debate fired up again yesterday after a report that 800 asylum-seekers would arrive on our shores over the next month.
Mr Abbott said the Coalition would keep skilled migration numbers up, but would crack down on "dubious educational and family-reunion applicants".
Although the Coalition doesn't nominate a population figure, the growth rate would put Australia on track for a population in 2050 of well below 36 million.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said although the Coalition believed that Australia was a nation of migrant success stories, "these do not justify a population blank cheque for the future".
Mr Morrison added that population growth was in danger of becoming a lazy substitute for improving productivity.
"Fuelling population growth today must not rob future generations of the quality of life and opportunities we enjoy in the future," he said.
"We believe Australians are looking for payment up front on infrastructure and services before they will support a higher rate of population growth."
Australia has the highest population growth rate in the major economies of the developed world, higher even than the world's most populous countries, China and India.
So far this year, the country's population has increased by nearly a quarter of a million people, to 22,397,892 early yesterday afternoon, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics population clock.
The population growth during the 35 days of the election campaign will total 44,520.
Sustainable Population Minister Tony Burke told Sky News yesterday that Australia's population debate was not about immigration, but infrastructure.
"It's not an immigration debate," Mr Burke said.
"It's a debate primarily that deals with the spread of population. It has to be about quality of life."
The Coalition policy announcement today will also commit the government to population growth rates being set by a renamed Productivity Commission, which will be called the Productivity and Sustainability Commission, based on delivery of improved infrastructure and services.
Two-thirds of the permanent migration program (which totals about 180,000 a year) will be reserved for skilled migration.
Sponsored skilled-work visas and temporary skilled-work visas (known as 457 visas) would also be quarantined at existing levels, the humanitarian intake would also remain the same.
Mr Morrison said WA and Queensland would be given preferential treatment and a greater share of immigrants.
The policy would also settle more humanitarian and refugee migrants in regional areas.
The Coalition would begin a White Paper on immigration if they win office to set out a detailed plan for enacting the cuts to immigration programs, and release a discussion paper by the end of the year on the topic.
Although Mr Morrison would not detail where the cuts would be made, he indicated that family and student visa programs were the bulk of the remaining visa classes that were not protected under the Coalition's new policy.
Source:http://www.news.com.au/features/federal-election/coalition-will-cut-immigration-says-opposition-leader-tony-abbott/story-fn5tar6a-1225896532324
Mr Abbott will announce today a Coalition Government would cut net overseas migration from nearly 300,000 to 170,000, and reduce the nation's population growth from 2.1 per cent to 1.4 per cent.
Echoing the mantra of former prime minister John Howard, Mr Abbott told The Sunday Telegraph: "We will determine who comes to our country and the circumstances under which they come."
The planned cuts will focus on family and student visa programs, while skilled migration would largely be quarantined.
Mr Abbott said a "fair dinkum" debate was needed after Prime Minister Julia Gillard's attempts to distance the population debate from immigration levels.
The Coalition's policy, to be announced today in the lead up to the first and only leaders debate tonight, sets up an historic split on bipartisan immigration policy.
The immigration debate fired up again yesterday after a report that 800 asylum-seekers would arrive on our shores over the next month.
Mr Abbott said the Coalition would keep skilled migration numbers up, but would crack down on "dubious educational and family-reunion applicants".
Although the Coalition doesn't nominate a population figure, the growth rate would put Australia on track for a population in 2050 of well below 36 million.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said although the Coalition believed that Australia was a nation of migrant success stories, "these do not justify a population blank cheque for the future".
Mr Morrison added that population growth was in danger of becoming a lazy substitute for improving productivity.
"Fuelling population growth today must not rob future generations of the quality of life and opportunities we enjoy in the future," he said.
"We believe Australians are looking for payment up front on infrastructure and services before they will support a higher rate of population growth."
Australia has the highest population growth rate in the major economies of the developed world, higher even than the world's most populous countries, China and India.
So far this year, the country's population has increased by nearly a quarter of a million people, to 22,397,892 early yesterday afternoon, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics population clock.
The population growth during the 35 days of the election campaign will total 44,520.
Sustainable Population Minister Tony Burke told Sky News yesterday that Australia's population debate was not about immigration, but infrastructure.
"It's not an immigration debate," Mr Burke said.
"It's a debate primarily that deals with the spread of population. It has to be about quality of life."
The Coalition policy announcement today will also commit the government to population growth rates being set by a renamed Productivity Commission, which will be called the Productivity and Sustainability Commission, based on delivery of improved infrastructure and services.
Two-thirds of the permanent migration program (which totals about 180,000 a year) will be reserved for skilled migration.
Sponsored skilled-work visas and temporary skilled-work visas (known as 457 visas) would also be quarantined at existing levels, the humanitarian intake would also remain the same.
Mr Morrison said WA and Queensland would be given preferential treatment and a greater share of immigrants.
The policy would also settle more humanitarian and refugee migrants in regional areas.
The Coalition would begin a White Paper on immigration if they win office to set out a detailed plan for enacting the cuts to immigration programs, and release a discussion paper by the end of the year on the topic.
Although Mr Morrison would not detail where the cuts would be made, he indicated that family and student visa programs were the bulk of the remaining visa classes that were not protected under the Coalition's new policy.
Source:http://www.news.com.au/features/federal-election/coalition-will-cut-immigration-says-opposition-leader-tony-abbott/story-fn5tar6a-1225896532324
Friday, August 6, 2010
Desperate Indians flood 'corrupt' cab industry
Corruption and an influx of Indian students attending international colleges is killing the taxi industry, insiders say.
They say an explosion of racism and corruption in the taxi industry is partly due to dodgy recruiting practices among colleges who are luring Indian students to Australia.
Veteran drivers say the industry can no longer support the huge number of workers, many of them Indian students, who are scrambling to keep afloat.
Drivers who were once able to earn a living from driving now make as little as $5 an hour.
Last month tensions boiled over at Brisbane airport, when an Indian taxi driver was involved in a stoush with a Federal Police officer for parking illegally.
There have also been reports of racist attacks against Indian cab drivers, accusations drivers have been given open licences without background checks, and booking companies are said to have allowed drivers to pass tests without sitting them.
Lee Sims from the Cab Drivers Association Queensland says the tensions are the result of a corrupt industry.
He says a big part of the problem starts when young people are lured into coming to Australia by agents from international TAFE colleges.
"Cab drivers come up with all sorts of stories [but] we've found this proved to be true," he said.
"Agents in the Punjab - and it's largely from the Punjab region - they've suddenly got cashed up from the globalisation and the industrialisation of India and there's a lot of new wealth over there."
Mr Sims says these agents tell people in India they can study and make good money working in Australia.
"They come here under the guise that they'll get to Australia where there are greater opportunities for employment, last here long enough to get residency, then ultimately citizenship, then send back home to bring others over," he said.
"That's the way in and it's been proven around the world the way to do it is through the service industry, such as taxis, cleaning and security."
Mr Sims says once students arrive in Australia they join an already flooded sector, where the number of taxis competing for jobs means the average driver's wage has dropped to just over $20,000 a year.
Camping at ranks
Del Singh bought a cab as part of his retirement plan in Brisbane. He occasionally drives himself, but often hires drivers to use his vehicle.
Mr Singh says in the past few years the wage of cab drivers has halved. He says taxi drivers are camping out at ranks, particularly at the airport, at all hours of the night to try and snag a fare.
He says Australia's international colleges have taken advantage of young people.
"I know some people who are here doing courses and they're paying hefty amounts for TAFE colleges. Even for them now to give up those courses, TAFE colleges want money. So it's a big rip off," he said.
"TAFE colleges, institutes are finding agents who must be raising false hopes that you can [come to Australia], make lots of money, you can study.
"And a lot of those students are coming here and having hardships.
"There used to be a driver who used to work for me and his sister was in Melbourne and they come from India and they were trying to get out of the TAFE colleges and they were saying you have to pay that much before they would let them go."
Mr Singh says many international students tried their hand at cab driving because, up until recently, it was a quick and easy process to get a licence.
"They could do their training within four days and within weeks of coming into this country they could start driving taxis and earning their living," he said.
National Union of Students president Carla Drakeford says it is a problem that has been going on for a long time.
"There are lots of auxiliary costs associated with these colleges that are often not disclosed and a lot of these colleges ask for payments up front. That's one of the biggest problems," she said.
"I've spoken to students who are taxi drivers who say they have to work ridiculous hours to try and pay for this stuff up front because their parents don't necessarily know everything [that's going on] and they're too embarrassed to go home and ask for money from their parents."
She says things are set to get tougher for international students.
"At the moment we're facing a situation where private colleges are collapsing because their providers are dodgy and because new migration laws and changes are coming which will limit students' ability to gain permanent residency," she said.
"So all these concerns are starting to add up for Indian students who are coming out of here."
'Taxi mafia'
Queensland's Workplace Ombudsman Don Brown last month handed down a report into the taxi industry in the state.
He found workers in the industry are at the mercy of taxi booking companies, who in turn have no industry watchdog to answer to.
"The taxi industry investigation was not welcomed by senior and influential elements of the industry," the report said.
Mr Sims agrees and says drivers can be laid off at a moment's notice with no recourse to make a complaint.
Taxi drivers generally do not receive superannuation, sick leave, or holiday leave, and they have to pay GST on their earnings.
Mr Sims says companies often demand 60 per cent of taxi takings and, because they control the booking service, individual drivers have no choice but to comply.
"They often talk about the taxi mafia. I don't want to give them that much respect," he said.
"It's inherent. It's a bit incestuous. They hold up the industry by intimidation and fear."
He says corruption, coupled with the huge influx of overseas workers flooding the roads, makes it impossible to earn a living and survive as a driver.
While he praised the Ombudsman's report, Mr Sims says he expects the Government will continue to turn a blind eye to the problems in the industry.
Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/06/2975104.htm?section=business
They say an explosion of racism and corruption in the taxi industry is partly due to dodgy recruiting practices among colleges who are luring Indian students to Australia.
Veteran drivers say the industry can no longer support the huge number of workers, many of them Indian students, who are scrambling to keep afloat.
Drivers who were once able to earn a living from driving now make as little as $5 an hour.
Last month tensions boiled over at Brisbane airport, when an Indian taxi driver was involved in a stoush with a Federal Police officer for parking illegally.
There have also been reports of racist attacks against Indian cab drivers, accusations drivers have been given open licences without background checks, and booking companies are said to have allowed drivers to pass tests without sitting them.
Lee Sims from the Cab Drivers Association Queensland says the tensions are the result of a corrupt industry.
He says a big part of the problem starts when young people are lured into coming to Australia by agents from international TAFE colleges.
"Cab drivers come up with all sorts of stories [but] we've found this proved to be true," he said.
"Agents in the Punjab - and it's largely from the Punjab region - they've suddenly got cashed up from the globalisation and the industrialisation of India and there's a lot of new wealth over there."
Mr Sims says these agents tell people in India they can study and make good money working in Australia.
"They come here under the guise that they'll get to Australia where there are greater opportunities for employment, last here long enough to get residency, then ultimately citizenship, then send back home to bring others over," he said.
"That's the way in and it's been proven around the world the way to do it is through the service industry, such as taxis, cleaning and security."
Mr Sims says once students arrive in Australia they join an already flooded sector, where the number of taxis competing for jobs means the average driver's wage has dropped to just over $20,000 a year.
Camping at ranks
Del Singh bought a cab as part of his retirement plan in Brisbane. He occasionally drives himself, but often hires drivers to use his vehicle.
Mr Singh says in the past few years the wage of cab drivers has halved. He says taxi drivers are camping out at ranks, particularly at the airport, at all hours of the night to try and snag a fare.
He says Australia's international colleges have taken advantage of young people.
"I know some people who are here doing courses and they're paying hefty amounts for TAFE colleges. Even for them now to give up those courses, TAFE colleges want money. So it's a big rip off," he said.
"TAFE colleges, institutes are finding agents who must be raising false hopes that you can [come to Australia], make lots of money, you can study.
"And a lot of those students are coming here and having hardships.
"There used to be a driver who used to work for me and his sister was in Melbourne and they come from India and they were trying to get out of the TAFE colleges and they were saying you have to pay that much before they would let them go."
Mr Singh says many international students tried their hand at cab driving because, up until recently, it was a quick and easy process to get a licence.
"They could do their training within four days and within weeks of coming into this country they could start driving taxis and earning their living," he said.
National Union of Students president Carla Drakeford says it is a problem that has been going on for a long time.
"There are lots of auxiliary costs associated with these colleges that are often not disclosed and a lot of these colleges ask for payments up front. That's one of the biggest problems," she said.
"I've spoken to students who are taxi drivers who say they have to work ridiculous hours to try and pay for this stuff up front because their parents don't necessarily know everything [that's going on] and they're too embarrassed to go home and ask for money from their parents."
She says things are set to get tougher for international students.
"At the moment we're facing a situation where private colleges are collapsing because their providers are dodgy and because new migration laws and changes are coming which will limit students' ability to gain permanent residency," she said.
"So all these concerns are starting to add up for Indian students who are coming out of here."
'Taxi mafia'
Queensland's Workplace Ombudsman Don Brown last month handed down a report into the taxi industry in the state.
He found workers in the industry are at the mercy of taxi booking companies, who in turn have no industry watchdog to answer to.
"The taxi industry investigation was not welcomed by senior and influential elements of the industry," the report said.
Mr Sims agrees and says drivers can be laid off at a moment's notice with no recourse to make a complaint.
Taxi drivers generally do not receive superannuation, sick leave, or holiday leave, and they have to pay GST on their earnings.
Mr Sims says companies often demand 60 per cent of taxi takings and, because they control the booking service, individual drivers have no choice but to comply.
"They often talk about the taxi mafia. I don't want to give them that much respect," he said.
"It's inherent. It's a bit incestuous. They hold up the industry by intimidation and fear."
He says corruption, coupled with the huge influx of overseas workers flooding the roads, makes it impossible to earn a living and survive as a driver.
While he praised the Ombudsman's report, Mr Sims says he expects the Government will continue to turn a blind eye to the problems in the industry.
Source:http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/06/2975104.htm?section=business
Student visa cuts to cost jobs, say universities
UNIVERSITIES have called on Tony Abbott to scrap his plan to cut international student visa numbers.
They have warned that such a move could cripple the nation's fourth largest export market and lead to massive job losses.
And business has condemned the Opposition Leader's planned cuts to immigration levels, saying he is "pitching to short-term self-interest".
Labor accused Mr Abbott of "a sneaky political trick", claiming he had added up the projected cuts in net overseas immigration arising from existing government policy, and claimed them as his own.
The announcement of the Coalition's plan to cut international student visa numbers comes as a senior delegation from Universities Australia led by Peter Coaldrake, Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology, is due to meet Department of Immigration officials in Canberra today. The delegation will ask for a change in policy to allow overseas students who come to do a degree to be given the chance to work here for two to three years and then return home.
Mr Abbott announced yesterday that a Coalition government would cut the nation's annual rate of net overseas immigration to no more than 170,000 people a year by the end of the next parliamentary term.
The Coalition policy would reduce Australia's annual rate of population growth from more than 2 per cent to the historical long-run average of 1.4 per cent within its first term.
Given that employer-nominated skills migration and 457 temporary business visa numbers would be quarantined from the policy, the most likely cuts would be to overseas student numbers, which Mr Abbott said represented "the largest contributor to net overseas migration".
"What we are planning to do is to get our immigration levels to those which we believe are economically, environmentally and politically, if you like, sustainable," Mr Abbott said.
Universities Australia chief executive Glenn Withers has called on both sides of politics to stop trying to destroy the international student industry, which generates about $18 billion a year in export earnings.
"International student numbers are already falling substantially, including from the quality students who enhance university education here," Dr Withers said yesterday.
"Universities Australia asks all political parties to step back from causing additional damage to this area.
"A severe drop in international student numbers would cost many Australians their jobs.
"For example, according to Access Economics estimates, a 50 per cent drop in international student numbers represents 62,000 jobs gone -- and this process is already happening.
"Many of these jobs are in marginal and regional seats where universities and colleges are a major community presence".
Dr Withers said international education revenue contributed to the facilities and staff for domestic students too.
"Universities rely crucially upon that help," he said.
"Cutting overseas student numbers is equivalent to a tax or tariff on tertiary education. And it will make it even harder, not easier, to increase domestic skill provision.
"Universities Australia calls on the parties to be clear in the period ahead on how their tertiary education budget commitments will increase to offset the effects of any such cuts in international student numbers, how jobs for employees displaced will be created, and how our reputation abroad for Australian education as a welcoming destination will be maintained."
Jennie Lang, international pro vice-chancellor at the University of NSW, said cuts would be crippling to the sector.
"It's important to realise the international students have offset significant funding for universities," Ms Lang said.
"The presence of international students has been important for the continual internationalisation of our campuses."
She said universities were able to offer a diversity of courses because of strong international student numbers.
"It would be crippling and would mean a loss of staff and there would be a question mark put over programs," Ms Lang said.
Mr Abbott yesterday challenged Julia Gillard to name a migration number after she placed population at the forefront of the campaign last week when she questioned whether it was time to declare that areas such as western Sydney and southeast Queensland had reached the limit of their capacity for growth.
"You cannot have a population discussion without also having an immigration discussion," the Opposition Leader said.
Labor seized on a report to be released today by economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel that predicts population growth will slow considerably in 2010-11 and 2011-12 as net overseas immigration declines.
BIS Shrapnel forecast a "sustained decrease" in net overseas immigration over the next two years, with the net figure falling to 175,000 in 2010-11 and 145,000 in 2011-12.
Sustainable Population Minister Tony Burke said Mr Abbott's immigration announcement "is nothing more than a sneaky political trick".
"All Mr Abbott has done is add up the current projected cuts in net overseas migration arising from existing government policy and call it his policy," Mr Burke said yesterday.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Katie Lahey expressed disappointment at the Coalition announcement.
"There is a temptation around election time to offer simple solutions, and to pitch to perceived short-term self-interest rather than long-term national interest," Ms Lahey said.
"Migration trend figures suggest the Coalition's approach would have little net effect on the program, but it is nonetheless disappointing to see our political leaders engage in such populist rhetoric."
Growth would offset the cost effects of Australia's ageing population, Ms Lahey said.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/student-visa-cuts-to-cost-jobs-say-universities/story-fn59niix-1225896788381
They have warned that such a move could cripple the nation's fourth largest export market and lead to massive job losses.
And business has condemned the Opposition Leader's planned cuts to immigration levels, saying he is "pitching to short-term self-interest".
Labor accused Mr Abbott of "a sneaky political trick", claiming he had added up the projected cuts in net overseas immigration arising from existing government policy, and claimed them as his own.
The announcement of the Coalition's plan to cut international student visa numbers comes as a senior delegation from Universities Australia led by Peter Coaldrake, Vice-Chancellor of Queensland University of Technology, is due to meet Department of Immigration officials in Canberra today. The delegation will ask for a change in policy to allow overseas students who come to do a degree to be given the chance to work here for two to three years and then return home.
Mr Abbott announced yesterday that a Coalition government would cut the nation's annual rate of net overseas immigration to no more than 170,000 people a year by the end of the next parliamentary term.
The Coalition policy would reduce Australia's annual rate of population growth from more than 2 per cent to the historical long-run average of 1.4 per cent within its first term.
Given that employer-nominated skills migration and 457 temporary business visa numbers would be quarantined from the policy, the most likely cuts would be to overseas student numbers, which Mr Abbott said represented "the largest contributor to net overseas migration".
"What we are planning to do is to get our immigration levels to those which we believe are economically, environmentally and politically, if you like, sustainable," Mr Abbott said.
Universities Australia chief executive Glenn Withers has called on both sides of politics to stop trying to destroy the international student industry, which generates about $18 billion a year in export earnings.
"International student numbers are already falling substantially, including from the quality students who enhance university education here," Dr Withers said yesterday.
"Universities Australia asks all political parties to step back from causing additional damage to this area.
"A severe drop in international student numbers would cost many Australians their jobs.
"For example, according to Access Economics estimates, a 50 per cent drop in international student numbers represents 62,000 jobs gone -- and this process is already happening.
"Many of these jobs are in marginal and regional seats where universities and colleges are a major community presence".
Dr Withers said international education revenue contributed to the facilities and staff for domestic students too.
"Universities rely crucially upon that help," he said.
"Cutting overseas student numbers is equivalent to a tax or tariff on tertiary education. And it will make it even harder, not easier, to increase domestic skill provision.
"Universities Australia calls on the parties to be clear in the period ahead on how their tertiary education budget commitments will increase to offset the effects of any such cuts in international student numbers, how jobs for employees displaced will be created, and how our reputation abroad for Australian education as a welcoming destination will be maintained."
Jennie Lang, international pro vice-chancellor at the University of NSW, said cuts would be crippling to the sector.
"It's important to realise the international students have offset significant funding for universities," Ms Lang said.
"The presence of international students has been important for the continual internationalisation of our campuses."
She said universities were able to offer a diversity of courses because of strong international student numbers.
"It would be crippling and would mean a loss of staff and there would be a question mark put over programs," Ms Lang said.
Mr Abbott yesterday challenged Julia Gillard to name a migration number after she placed population at the forefront of the campaign last week when she questioned whether it was time to declare that areas such as western Sydney and southeast Queensland had reached the limit of their capacity for growth.
"You cannot have a population discussion without also having an immigration discussion," the Opposition Leader said.
Labor seized on a report to be released today by economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel that predicts population growth will slow considerably in 2010-11 and 2011-12 as net overseas immigration declines.
BIS Shrapnel forecast a "sustained decrease" in net overseas immigration over the next two years, with the net figure falling to 175,000 in 2010-11 and 145,000 in 2011-12.
Sustainable Population Minister Tony Burke said Mr Abbott's immigration announcement "is nothing more than a sneaky political trick".
"All Mr Abbott has done is add up the current projected cuts in net overseas migration arising from existing government policy and call it his policy," Mr Burke said yesterday.
Business Council of Australia chief executive Katie Lahey expressed disappointment at the Coalition announcement.
"There is a temptation around election time to offer simple solutions, and to pitch to perceived short-term self-interest rather than long-term national interest," Ms Lahey said.
"Migration trend figures suggest the Coalition's approach would have little net effect on the program, but it is nonetheless disappointing to see our political leaders engage in such populist rhetoric."
Growth would offset the cost effects of Australia's ageing population, Ms Lahey said.
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/student-visa-cuts-to-cost-jobs-say-universities/story-fn59niix-1225896788381
Language bungle thwarts foreign nurse graduates
INTERNATIONAL nursing students who graduated last semester and want to work in Australia have been caught up in an administrative bungle that could see hundreds of qualified nurses sent home, unable to take up jobs they have been offered.
Nurses who have completed their degree at universities including Deakin and the University of Ballarat face uncertainty because they do not meet the language requirements set by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
From July 1 this year students are not eligible unless they have passed an English literacy test at level 7.
University of Ballarat head of Nursing Lynette Stockhausen said the changes had affected almost 100 students, and would have an impact on regional health services.
''This is really unfortunate for rural and regional areas as we have many of our domestic students not willing to work in [those] areas, whereas many of our international students settle in really well.''
Ms Stockhausen said the university was unaware of the extent of changes to registration until the system was implemented. Dechawut Boontun studied at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. He has been able to gain registration. But Mr Boontun says he has many friends worried that they will be sent home.
He says the new system puts graduates at a disadvantage because once they finished studying, their student visa expires but, without registration, graduates cannot apply for a skilled migration visa.
More than 100 students from Deakin, Ballarat and ANU attended a meeting at the Australian Nursing Federation's Victorian branch yesterday. Branch president Lisa Fitzpatrick told the group of predominantly Chinese, Indian and Filipino students that the ANF was negotiating with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to fix the problem but that the board seemed unwilling to move.
The Department of Immigration is offering tourist visas to those students caught by the changes to allow them to stay in Australia. But tourist visas do not allow holders to work, putting them in a financially impossible position.
A spokeswoman for the department said there was no other way for the graduates to stay in the country.She said any students with problems should contact the department as soon as possible.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board said the new registration requirements were to ensure nurses had the communication skills needed to do their jobs.
''This standard is consistent with the English language skills requirements for registration in the United Kingdom and is the lowest minimum standard for English language across all the health professions in Australia,'' spokeswoman Nicole Newton said.
''The role of the board is to protect the public. The board has set a range of registration standards aimed at ensuring that all nurses and midwives can provide safe care to the Australian community.''
Source: The Age
Nurses who have completed their degree at universities including Deakin and the University of Ballarat face uncertainty because they do not meet the language requirements set by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
From July 1 this year students are not eligible unless they have passed an English literacy test at level 7.
University of Ballarat head of Nursing Lynette Stockhausen said the changes had affected almost 100 students, and would have an impact on regional health services.
''This is really unfortunate for rural and regional areas as we have many of our domestic students not willing to work in [those] areas, whereas many of our international students settle in really well.''
Ms Stockhausen said the university was unaware of the extent of changes to registration until the system was implemented. Dechawut Boontun studied at the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne. He has been able to gain registration. But Mr Boontun says he has many friends worried that they will be sent home.
He says the new system puts graduates at a disadvantage because once they finished studying, their student visa expires but, without registration, graduates cannot apply for a skilled migration visa.
More than 100 students from Deakin, Ballarat and ANU attended a meeting at the Australian Nursing Federation's Victorian branch yesterday. Branch president Lisa Fitzpatrick told the group of predominantly Chinese, Indian and Filipino students that the ANF was negotiating with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to fix the problem but that the board seemed unwilling to move.
The Department of Immigration is offering tourist visas to those students caught by the changes to allow them to stay in Australia. But tourist visas do not allow holders to work, putting them in a financially impossible position.
A spokeswoman for the department said there was no other way for the graduates to stay in the country.She said any students with problems should contact the department as soon as possible.
The Nursing and Midwifery Board said the new registration requirements were to ensure nurses had the communication skills needed to do their jobs.
''This standard is consistent with the English language skills requirements for registration in the United Kingdom and is the lowest minimum standard for English language across all the health professions in Australia,'' spokeswoman Nicole Newton said.
''The role of the board is to protect the public. The board has set a range of registration standards aimed at ensuring that all nurses and midwives can provide safe care to the Australian community.''
Source: The Age
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Restaurant manager asked for cash to fake residency papers, court told
The Department of Immigration is investigating the owner of two Indian restaurants in western Sydney over claims he repeatedly accepted large payments to falsify documents for migrant workers seeking permanent residency.
In an unfair dismissal case before Fair Work Australia, a former chef at the Tribeni and Kashi Indian restaurants, Nandalcumaran Krishnakanth, claimed his employer, Saai Bose Pty Ltd, had asked staff to pay between $1300 and $12,000 for help in gaining permanent residency.
In return for the money the company's director at the time, Arun Bose, would fill out fake skills certificates showing that the staff had completed the 900 hours of work experience needed to apply for permanent residency, the commission was told.
Restaurant manager asked for cash to fake residency papers, court told
PAUL BIBBY
July 30, 2010
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The Department of Immigration is investigating the owner of two Indian restaurants in western Sydney over claims he repeatedly accepted large payments to falsify documents for migrant workers seeking permanent residency.
In an unfair dismissal case before Fair Work Australia, a former chef at the Tribeni and Kashi Indian restaurants, Nandalcumaran Krishnakanth, claimed his employer, Saai Bose Pty Ltd, had asked staff to pay between $1300 and $12,000 for help in gaining permanent residency.
In return for the money the company's director at the time, Arun Bose, would fill out fake skills certificates showing that the staff had completed the 900 hours of work experience needed to apply for permanent residency, the commission was told.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Mr Krishnakanth said Mr Bose also asked for money to provide glowing work references to assist in the application process.
''Mr Bose would say, 'Pay me $1300 and I'll give you the certificate that you worked as a chef and performed certain duties','' Mr Krishnakanth told the tribunal.
The certificate would be provided whether the person had worked for the restaurant or not, he said.
The commission was also shown an extract of Mr Bose's time and wages record in which four months of records appeared to have been filled out at the same time.
The commissioner, deputy president Peter Sams, said the entries were ''most suspicious'' and appeared to have been back-dated.
Mr Bose denied the allegations, stating that nothing was falsified and all legal requirements were met during his time as director.
He sold the company last year and it is now in liquidation.
''There was one 457 [visa] employee who claimed unfair dismissal,'' Mr Bose said. ''He was making stories.''
Fair Work Australia has referred the matter to the Department of Immigration, which has mobilised staff from a number of different units to investigate. The investigation will also include allegations that staff were underpaid and denied some entitlements.
''These are allegations which the department takes very seriously,'' a spokeswoman said. ''In the case of alleged criminal activity we would bring any allegations we find through the appropriate courts.''
The department revealed it had already been investigating Saai Bose's involvement in the operation of the 457 visa program. Issues under review included the payment of superannuation and providing sufficient time for learning and development.
This month a former student of the now-defunct Sydney International College of Business was found guilty on two counts of supplying false documents and sentenced to 200 hours community service.
A migration agent, Maher Itani, said that rorting of the system was common until the laws were tightened recently.
''People just find a restaurant, give them a few bucks and get a certificate,'' said Mr Itani, who owns the migration agency Access Australia.
Source:http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/restaurant-manager-asked-for-cash-to-fake-residency-papers-court-told-20100729-10y4z.html
In an unfair dismissal case before Fair Work Australia, a former chef at the Tribeni and Kashi Indian restaurants, Nandalcumaran Krishnakanth, claimed his employer, Saai Bose Pty Ltd, had asked staff to pay between $1300 and $12,000 for help in gaining permanent residency.
In return for the money the company's director at the time, Arun Bose, would fill out fake skills certificates showing that the staff had completed the 900 hours of work experience needed to apply for permanent residency, the commission was told.
Restaurant manager asked for cash to fake residency papers, court told
PAUL BIBBY
July 30, 2010
Ads by Google
CCNA Certification
Train On Live Equipment From Home! 1st in Content. 1st in Value.
www.eCertIT.com.au
The Department of Immigration is investigating the owner of two Indian restaurants in western Sydney over claims he repeatedly accepted large payments to falsify documents for migrant workers seeking permanent residency.
In an unfair dismissal case before Fair Work Australia, a former chef at the Tribeni and Kashi Indian restaurants, Nandalcumaran Krishnakanth, claimed his employer, Saai Bose Pty Ltd, had asked staff to pay between $1300 and $12,000 for help in gaining permanent residency.
In return for the money the company's director at the time, Arun Bose, would fill out fake skills certificates showing that the staff had completed the 900 hours of work experience needed to apply for permanent residency, the commission was told.
Advertisement: Story continues below
Mr Krishnakanth said Mr Bose also asked for money to provide glowing work references to assist in the application process.
''Mr Bose would say, 'Pay me $1300 and I'll give you the certificate that you worked as a chef and performed certain duties','' Mr Krishnakanth told the tribunal.
The certificate would be provided whether the person had worked for the restaurant or not, he said.
The commission was also shown an extract of Mr Bose's time and wages record in which four months of records appeared to have been filled out at the same time.
The commissioner, deputy president Peter Sams, said the entries were ''most suspicious'' and appeared to have been back-dated.
Mr Bose denied the allegations, stating that nothing was falsified and all legal requirements were met during his time as director.
He sold the company last year and it is now in liquidation.
''There was one 457 [visa] employee who claimed unfair dismissal,'' Mr Bose said. ''He was making stories.''
Fair Work Australia has referred the matter to the Department of Immigration, which has mobilised staff from a number of different units to investigate. The investigation will also include allegations that staff were underpaid and denied some entitlements.
''These are allegations which the department takes very seriously,'' a spokeswoman said. ''In the case of alleged criminal activity we would bring any allegations we find through the appropriate courts.''
The department revealed it had already been investigating Saai Bose's involvement in the operation of the 457 visa program. Issues under review included the payment of superannuation and providing sufficient time for learning and development.
This month a former student of the now-defunct Sydney International College of Business was found guilty on two counts of supplying false documents and sentenced to 200 hours community service.
A migration agent, Maher Itani, said that rorting of the system was common until the laws were tightened recently.
''People just find a restaurant, give them a few bucks and get a certificate,'' said Mr Itani, who owns the migration agency Access Australia.
Source:http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/restaurant-manager-asked-for-cash-to-fake-residency-papers-court-told-20100729-10y4z.html
Student cutback 'threat' to India ties
NDIAN education agents have reacted with horror to news that a Tony Abbott-led government would further tighten restrictions on student visas, warning that such a move would reverse important but fragile new links between the two countries.
Student visa applications from India, Australia's second-largest student market behind China, have already dropped dramatically in recent months and several agents The Australian spoke to yesterday were concerned the immigration debate could further damage the industry.
They quoted declines of up to 85 per cent this year since the Labor government moved to close loopholes that encouraged low-skilled migrants to enrol in bogus or poor-quality vocational training courses in order to secure permanent residency.
Education agent Sonya Singh said Mr Abbott's proposal to further reduce Australia's annual immigration uptake by cracking down on family reunion and student visa applicants would harm not only education links, but also hurt tourism and future business relationships.
The development came as Australian universities warned against "fortress Australia" immigration policies emerging out of the election campaign which could damage the sector. The $18 billion export industry is Australia's fourth-largest export market.
Senior education executives in China warned that applications for October enrolments in Australia were down more than 30 per cent, and applications could fall as much as 50 per cent for the February intake.
China is Australia single biggest source of foreign students, accounting for over a quarter of the market, and agents there are largely blaming the falls on the Labor government's tighter visa and immigration policies as well as higher tuition fees, increased competition and a relatively high Australian dollar. "Limiting the numbers of international student numbers who study at our universities isn't a solution to a perceived problem with migration," peak body Universities Australia warned.
Mr Abbott has singled out tightening up on student visas as part of his policy to cut immigration numbers.
Universities are braced for a 10 per cent drop in international student commencements in the second semester and a further 10 per cent fall next year.
Across all international education, including vocational and English-language colleges and schools, offshore grants of student visas fell 30 per cent in 2009-10, a drop of almost 70,000.
India accounted for more than half the drop, partly reflecting tougher scrutiny on visas after cases of fraud.The downturn has been focused in the previously overheated vocational sector, where rorts were concentrated, and in English colleges. Higher education commencements were up almost 8 per cent but numbers are expected to fall.
Education Minister Simon Crean defended the changes as focusing education exports on quality rather than numbers.
"I make no apology for the measures the federal government introduced to safeguard the quality of the Australian education brand," Mr Crean said.
The government has tightened regulation on visas and narrowed the list of occupations given priority for permanent residency.
The sector has backed the intent of the changes that are aimed at cracking down on fraud and student exploitation, but it complains unnecessary damage is being done by the changes being rushed and being too blunt.
In a letter last month to then deputy prime minister Julia Gillard, language college association English Australia complained the government appeared to be either "unaware" of the looming crisis or was treating it in a "cavalier manner".
Universities Australia called for a "balanced" migration policy and not "fortress Australia", noting that educating international students was separate from immigration.
Monash University vice-chancellor Ed Byrne said Australia's reputation was potentially being put at risk by election rhetoric and it was important to retain a link between immigration and opportunities to live and work in the country.
Additional reporting: Michael Sainsbury, Guy Healy
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/student-cutback-threat-to-india-ties/story-fn59niix-1225897751807
Student visa applications from India, Australia's second-largest student market behind China, have already dropped dramatically in recent months and several agents The Australian spoke to yesterday were concerned the immigration debate could further damage the industry.
They quoted declines of up to 85 per cent this year since the Labor government moved to close loopholes that encouraged low-skilled migrants to enrol in bogus or poor-quality vocational training courses in order to secure permanent residency.
Education agent Sonya Singh said Mr Abbott's proposal to further reduce Australia's annual immigration uptake by cracking down on family reunion and student visa applicants would harm not only education links, but also hurt tourism and future business relationships.
The development came as Australian universities warned against "fortress Australia" immigration policies emerging out of the election campaign which could damage the sector. The $18 billion export industry is Australia's fourth-largest export market.
Senior education executives in China warned that applications for October enrolments in Australia were down more than 30 per cent, and applications could fall as much as 50 per cent for the February intake.
China is Australia single biggest source of foreign students, accounting for over a quarter of the market, and agents there are largely blaming the falls on the Labor government's tighter visa and immigration policies as well as higher tuition fees, increased competition and a relatively high Australian dollar. "Limiting the numbers of international student numbers who study at our universities isn't a solution to a perceived problem with migration," peak body Universities Australia warned.
Mr Abbott has singled out tightening up on student visas as part of his policy to cut immigration numbers.
Universities are braced for a 10 per cent drop in international student commencements in the second semester and a further 10 per cent fall next year.
Across all international education, including vocational and English-language colleges and schools, offshore grants of student visas fell 30 per cent in 2009-10, a drop of almost 70,000.
India accounted for more than half the drop, partly reflecting tougher scrutiny on visas after cases of fraud.The downturn has been focused in the previously overheated vocational sector, where rorts were concentrated, and in English colleges. Higher education commencements were up almost 8 per cent but numbers are expected to fall.
Education Minister Simon Crean defended the changes as focusing education exports on quality rather than numbers.
"I make no apology for the measures the federal government introduced to safeguard the quality of the Australian education brand," Mr Crean said.
The government has tightened regulation on visas and narrowed the list of occupations given priority for permanent residency.
The sector has backed the intent of the changes that are aimed at cracking down on fraud and student exploitation, but it complains unnecessary damage is being done by the changes being rushed and being too blunt.
In a letter last month to then deputy prime minister Julia Gillard, language college association English Australia complained the government appeared to be either "unaware" of the looming crisis or was treating it in a "cavalier manner".
Universities Australia called for a "balanced" migration policy and not "fortress Australia", noting that educating international students was separate from immigration.
Monash University vice-chancellor Ed Byrne said Australia's reputation was potentially being put at risk by election rhetoric and it was important to retain a link between immigration and opportunities to live and work in the country.
Additional reporting: Michael Sainsbury, Guy Healy
Source:http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/student-cutback-threat-to-india-ties/story-fn59niix-1225897751807
Libs to drop immigration by 100,000
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has flagged reducing Australia's immigration level by 100,000 people a year to allow for sustainable population growth.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is facing further pressure over her sustainable population policy with the opposition saying immigration must be considered as part of the population debate.
In a live debate on the issue aired on ABC Television on Thursday night, Mr Morrison said immigration was a major factor in population pressure.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has flagged reducing Australia's immigration level by 100,000 people a year to allow for sustainable population growth.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is facing further pressure over her sustainable population policy with the opposition saying immigration must be considered as part of the population debate.
In a live debate on the issue aired on ABC Television on Thursday night, Mr Morrison said immigration was a major factor in population pressure.
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He said reducing Australia's immigration level to 180,000 a year would be a starting point in developing a sustainable population growth policy.
"I do not believe that a sustainable rate of population growth were we currently are at over two per cent is something that any independent analysis could support as being sustainable," Mr Morrison said.
"If Julia Gillard says she's not for the 36 million figure by 2050 then she either has to sign up to at least 180,000 or less or she's not serious."
The comments come after former Labor leader Mark Latham criticised the prime minister, saying population could not be debated without considering immigration.
But Sustainable Population Minister Tony Burke defended the prime minister's stance, saying the starting point in the debate was about quality of life, rather than immigration.
"The starting point of the debate has to be quality of life and we have radically different pressures on that in different parts of Australia," Mr Burke said.
"We have parts of Australia where to get major projects off the ground we need more people and we have other parts of Australia where infrastructure pressures are bursting at the seams."
"So, the distribution of population within the country is actually the biggest pressure of all."
Earlier, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said the prime minister was a "flake and a fake" for saying she wanted a debate on population without wanting to address immigration levels.
"This is all about sending a spin message to western Sydney and beyond," Mr Hockey said.
© 2010 AAP
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is facing further pressure over her sustainable population policy with the opposition saying immigration must be considered as part of the population debate.
In a live debate on the issue aired on ABC Television on Thursday night, Mr Morrison said immigration was a major factor in population pressure.
Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has flagged reducing Australia's immigration level by 100,000 people a year to allow for sustainable population growth.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard is facing further pressure over her sustainable population policy with the opposition saying immigration must be considered as part of the population debate.
In a live debate on the issue aired on ABC Television on Thursday night, Mr Morrison said immigration was a major factor in population pressure.
Advertisement: Story continues below
He said reducing Australia's immigration level to 180,000 a year would be a starting point in developing a sustainable population growth policy.
"I do not believe that a sustainable rate of population growth were we currently are at over two per cent is something that any independent analysis could support as being sustainable," Mr Morrison said.
"If Julia Gillard says she's not for the 36 million figure by 2050 then she either has to sign up to at least 180,000 or less or she's not serious."
The comments come after former Labor leader Mark Latham criticised the prime minister, saying population could not be debated without considering immigration.
But Sustainable Population Minister Tony Burke defended the prime minister's stance, saying the starting point in the debate was about quality of life, rather than immigration.
"The starting point of the debate has to be quality of life and we have radically different pressures on that in different parts of Australia," Mr Burke said.
"We have parts of Australia where to get major projects off the ground we need more people and we have other parts of Australia where infrastructure pressures are bursting at the seams."
"So, the distribution of population within the country is actually the biggest pressure of all."
Earlier, opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said the prime minister was a "flake and a fake" for saying she wanted a debate on population without wanting to address immigration levels.
"This is all about sending a spin message to western Sydney and beyond," Mr Hockey said.
© 2010 AAP
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