The Victorian government has announced 14 new projects worth $337,000 to help the state’s international students through the International Student Welfare Program. One of the key projects is a $75,000 grant for Inner Melbourne Community Legal to provide legal support for international students studying at universities, TAFEs and private education providers. The funding will go towards delivering legal education that will help nearly 600 newly arrived international students with important issues like practical legal knowledge, personal safety and common legal issues.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection may soon introduce a computer system that will automatically determine whether a foreign national is permitted to live or visit Australia. This once-in-a-generation overhaul of the country’s visa processing system will be run by a private company. Under the new arrangements, the Immigration Department would still directly handle applications for refugee status and diplomatic visas and be responsible for security checks.
The process of reform of training packages will begin in earnest when a report is delivered to the federal government by the end of the year, Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills Karen Andrews has said. A Training Product Reform Joint Working Party is currently examining the structure of training packages. “It will determine whether there are alternative approaches to qualification design more suited to the changing nature of work into the future,” Ms Andrews said. She said the working party will deliver a report by the end of the year on the case for change to the design of qualifications. “This is likely to be followed by a consultation process to seek feedback on any proposed changes,” Ms Andrews said.
The Labor Party has expressed its concern over the “systemic abuse” of subclass 400 visas and has called on the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton to urgently safeguard it. Labor Party says this little-known visa is being used as a “backdoor” to undermine the government’s foreign labour crackdown. The three-month 400 visa was introduced by the former Labor government in early 2013.
Overseas migrants to South Australia should be enticed by offering an easier path to citizenship and opening up job visas for more occupations, a recent report by the SA Centre for Economic Studies (SACES) has recommended. The think-tank has proposed that SA must boost the population in the country towns and small cities with foreigners who want the jobs that locals refuse. More South Australians have moved interstate than people from other states have moved to SA since at least 1981. Keeping this in mind, the SACES report altogether made 14 recommendations to create a regionally focused migration program to boost population across the state. Some of the most important recommends were: removing caveats from skill lists for employers in regional areas; improving post-study work rights for vocational education and training graduates working in regional areas; creating a start-up visa for those in the country temporarily on other grounds such as student visas, 457 visas, or working holiday; and targeting the Business Innovation and Investment visas; among others.
A parliamentary Senate committee last week made four recommendations on the government’s planned citizenship changes. The report can be accessed here. The four recommendations are: The senate committee recommended that English language requirements should not be so high. The committee also suggested that Australian permanent residents, who were granted visas before the April 20th, should be allowed to apply for citizenship under old rules It also called for the government to reconsider its plan to ban applications for two years if the applicant failed the citizenship test thrice. And finally, to pass the bill.
As the situation for Rohingya Muslims worsens in Myanmar, Greens have called on the government to take in 20,000 refugees fleeing bloodshed. The political party has suggested Australia organises an emergency intake similar to the Syria program launched two years ago. According to United Nations, at least 300,000 people have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent weeks.As the situation for Rohingya Muslims worsens in Myanmar, Greens have called on the government to take in 20,000 refugees fleeing bloodshed. The political party has suggested Australia organises an emergency intake similar to the Syria program launched two years ago. According to United Nations, at least 300,000 people have fled Myanmar to Bangladesh in recent weeks.
Immigration minister Peter Dutton prides himself on being tough when it comes to immigration laws and how he exercises his discretion in intervening in cases that are rejected by the DIBP. All this very much behoves a person holding the position of immigration minister in a country which attracts millions of visa applicants each year. But there’s something amiss which is also very important: Uniformity. Last month, UK-born Kelly Webb was allowed to stay in the country despite having several domestic violence and violent crimes cases registered against her. She was being deported but has now been allowed to stay, and cannot apply for citizenship for next 3 years. A mild rap on the knuckles if you consider the case of a 92-year-old British war veteran who was asked to leave the country and harassed for weeks—with his Medicare card blocked—but was eventually allowed to stay. Bear in mind he had no criminal case against him. Or the case of a Brisbane grandmother who was deported after having spent 50 years in Australia. Minister Dutton has repeatedly said that there would be zero tolerance against “foreigners” found violating the law. No sane person will argue against that. But why can’t there be a policy—approved by the judiciary, of course—for such cases so that it lays down the guiding principles once and for all? I don’t think it is such a big ask. It will also help his own workload too, considering he will have a set template to follow.
The latest migration figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that India was the biggest source of Australian migration in March, with a total of 2,250 new migrants arriving in the country. China, with 1,720 migrants, was the second highest. Iraq, New Zealand and the Philippines rounded out the top 5, while United Kingdom, South Africa, Vietnam, Malaysia and Sri Lanka followed to complete the top 10 list. 11,590 people migrated to Australia in March. This is down slightly from February’s 11,830 but higher than January’s 9,610. The total migration for March 2016 was only slightly higher than this year, at 12,070. The March statistics are the most recent release of figures since the government revealed major changes to the 457 work visa program on 18 April. Its replacement, the temporary skills shortage visa (TSS), will have two streams for short and medium-term employment and stricter eligibility requirements. Read original report here and ABS report here.
We all want to work towards the success of the organisation but often, we fail to understand the route that we need to take to achieve the same. The Human Resources Manager plays a pivotal role in helping a new as well as an existing employee to understand what is expected of them in the organisation and about ways in which they can make themselves better. Therefore, the employers and the HR manager, in particular must strive to communicate and make the employees clear about what is expected of them and how they can fulfil such expectations. It is also, extremely important that communication with employees is a two-way process where the employee is explained the expectations but is also given the freedom to express his opinion and suggest ways to meet these expectations. A few benefits of effective communication of expectations to the employee are as follows: Clarity of directions: Communicating expectations lays down clear instructions and directions for the employee and the employee is able to understand the work that is required to be performed by him in the organisation. Employees do not end up wasting time in figuring out what they must do and what they must not. Generation of new ideas: When an employee is told about his role and what he is expected to do in the organisation, it enables him to understand his position and think of ways that would help him to make the maximum contribution to the organisation. It also helps the organisation to consider the ideas that are put forth by such employees. A sound employer-employee relationship: Effective communication is the key to success of any relationship and it also holds true in case of employers and employees. Communication of the expectations in a way that is easy to understand for the employee and working on ways to fulfil those expectations helps in maintaining the honesty and transparency between the employers and the employees. The other side of the coin: Communication of expectations between the employer and the employee also invites a feedback or an opinion from the employee and at times, it may prove to be a boon for the employer in certain decisions that he is required to take.