Category Archives: 澳專資訊

中國的貨幣貶值會影響到留學生前來澳大利亞嗎

有人說，中國貨幣迎來了21年來最大的貶值- 數十億股市被抹去，這將很有可能會影響到澳大利18.1個億的教育產業。

Maryland大學金融學教授Albert Kyle告訴The Australian報，中國的貨幣貶值將導致中國企業的和投資者們對對澳大利亞的產品和服務的興趣逐步減退。根據The Australian報導，這可能包括對悉尼和墨爾本房產的需求。

“我認為這會影響到我的生意，還有澳洲的一個重要行業- 那便是對中國學生的教育…… 所以這是一個可能會萎縮的出口市場，因為孩子們的父母有較少的可以支配的錢來支付相對昂貴的學費- 這就是為什麼伴隨著中國貨幣的貶值，澳大利亞的貨幣也將貶值，”他說。

然而，其他分析師不同意，他們稱貨幣貶值將會對澳大利亞的教育行業的長期影響是有限的。匯豐銀行首席經濟學家Paul Bloxham對The Australian說，銀行並不認為貨幣價值會繼續下降，而且澳大利亞的高等教育行業將依舊從中國崛起的中產階級身上受益。

“這是一個中期的結構性趨勢- 它並不會被我們在過去幾週看到的或者現在所看到的中國的短期的周期性疲軟所破壞，”Bloxham先生說。

“中產階級的收入正在增加。他們有大量的人出國，並且有越來越多的中國人希望得到海外的教育。”Bloxham先生說人民幣的貶值是相對來講比較小的，而中國的貨幣價值自2008年以來大大增強了。

由Ernst & Young和McKinsey整合的數據顯示，預計到2030年，亞洲和太平洋地區的中產階級會從0.5個億增長到3個億。

根據該報告，在2013年有超過15萬的中國學生在澳大利亞留學，是入學率第二高的國家的三倍以上。

到六月截止的過去12個月中，海外留學生貢獻了18.1億澳元，比去年同期增長了14.2%。

來源：移民聯盟

本地學徒輟學率上升，外國工人填補行業工作

隨著國家一半的年輕學徒從他們的培訓中輟學，新南威爾士州技術主席John Barilaro強調了457類別簽證在填補行業空缺中的作用。 Barilaro先生對The Australian報說，現在技術工人的平均年齡是40歲，管道工、電工和建築施工者們越來越缺乏，離校生們不願再繼續拾回技能- 這意味著這場危機可能會進一步加劇。

“我們用了二三十年的時間來告訴孩子們藍領的技術工作不會給你帶來好的生活和收入，”他說“大多父母們鼓勵孩子去讀大學。”

“但是對於大多數的技術工人來說，他們最終成為了企業家，運營著自己的業務。”

據The Australian報導，Barilaro先生本人在從政前在家族企業中當過木匠。

“很多技術工人都得到瞭如汽車等非常好的報酬。因為技能的短缺，他們的薪酬率增加了，”他說。

他指出，儘管行業對技術工人有需求，卻有著近一半的澳大利亞年輕人在開始當學徒的四年內輟學。據國家職業教育中心的調查數據，約50%的高中等教育的學生報名參加職業培訓。然而，數據還顯示，這些在2010年開始接受培訓的學徒中只有56%的人四年後在他們的技術領域工作。

“在建築行業、美髮或食品工業中，每三個學徒中只有一個人完成了他們的培訓；與此同時，有1/3的建築工人和15%的美髮師在他們學徒生涯的第一年便輟學了。”

Master Builders的首席執行官Wilhelm Harnisch告訴The Australian報，這個趨勢是“令人不安的”，而作為建築行業，在未來的10年需要30萬名額外的行業工人。 “培訓一個學徒是非常昂貴的，”他說，“通常由中小型規模的企業來運作，當條件變得艱苦的時候，他們對培養學徒的意願也隨之降低。”

來源：移民聯盟

No more visa labels for Australian visa holders

Here’s another reason to ensure your smartphone is properly charged-up before travelling to Australia. Labels for Australian visas won’t be issued from September 1. It’s a move designed to streamline visa processing and encourage digital service use, says the department of immigration.

Your passport or ImmiCard number will be the basis of identification and to determine if you hold a valid visa to enter or remain in Australia. DIBP announced that from 1 September 2015 visa holders will no longer be able to request and pay for a visa label. Visa holders can access their visa record through the free Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) service or the myVEVO mobile.

The DIBP advised that the visa grant letter should be retained and carried by visa holders as the information contained within the letter ‘will help check your visa status online’. Clearly the online status information will prevail. Last year, Vietnamese student Minh Duong was refused entry into Australia despite claiming to have a valid grant letter. DIBPs systems indicated that his visa had expired. Minh Doung was refused entry and had to return to Vietnam to make another visa application to continue his studies in Australia.

The DIBP insists that, “The practice of obtaining visa labels often resulted in unnecessary expenses, delays and inconvenience for clients and stakeholders. Offering these services digitally is an efficient, economical and sustainable solution.”

The department’s statement said that electronic management of visa records is expected to provide real-time visa information to registered organisations and other appropriate stakeholders as well as visa holders themselves through the free Visa Entitlement Verification Online service or the myVEVO mobile app.  Airline staff use the Advance Passenger Processing system to confirm that a passenger has a valid Australian visa.

Visa holders can also provide evidence that they have the authority to enter and remain in Australia by simply showing their passport or ImmiCard linked to their electronic visa record.

Source: Migration Alliance

澳洲大學受到攻擊- 中國學生掛科，絕望的學生採取欺騙行為

悉尼大學著名的商學院揭露了一個情況- 有超過400名學生碩士主修課程不及格，而這其中大部分學生來自中國- 這意味著就讀於該商學院的研究生們有可能需要被強制學習一個英語語言課程。根據ABC的報導，在1200名學習Critical Thinking in Business課程的學生中，有37%的人在第一學期結束後得到了不及格的成績；同時，有12%的學習Succeeding in Business課程的學生不及格。

全國高等教育聯盟（NTEU）權衡了大學與這些不幾個學生之間的矛盾- 學生們抱怨學校沒有好好的幫助他們學好課程。 NTEU的總裁Jeanie Rae說大學院校應該頂住要讓差生通過考試的壓力是沒錯，但是這次這些學生的待遇似乎是不公平的。

“我認為對於這件事，大學應該更加誠實- 對我而言，在課程結束後進行考試，然後在他們付過學費之後把他們除去對我來說很具有諷刺意味……如果說這些學生需要更好的語言能力，那麼當初當對於他們完成學業的能力有所懷疑的時候卻又為什麼錄取他們呢？”她說。

悉尼大學商學院副院長John Shields教授說，英語並不是有些中國學生在學業中苦苦掙扎的唯一原因。

“我們有大量的在海外完成本科學位的學生，包括中國大陸- 在那裡，學習的主導模式是被動地，而不是批判性的思維和積極學習，”他說。

“我們一直尋求做的是對來到我們學校的海外學生進行一個轉變- 從完全不同的學習體系和教育價值體系- 到批判性的思維方式。我們已經制定了比較系統和全面的額外支持給那些我們認為比較有風險的學生，”他說。

據之前其他媒體報導，至少有70名學生在支付MyMaster公司來寫論文的事情敗露後面臨著被驅逐出境。悉尼大學的一份報導稱，至少有16所大學已經陷入了抄襲醜聞。 Yingying Dou被指控收取了大約1000名學生的每份論文至少1000澳幣的費用。該公司的網站已經被關閉，而大學院校們還在繼續他們的調查。

來源：移民聯盟

墨爾本蟬聯5次全球最適宜居住城市冠軍

在經濟情報信息部（EIU）對140個城市的宜居性調查中，墨爾本以一個幾乎完美的分數再一次獲得冠軍。與滿分只差2.5分，墨爾本雖然有著不可預測的天氣，卻仍然擊敗了維也納、溫哥華和多倫多，位居EIU名單首位。

阿德萊德以96.6的分數位居第五名。前十名的城市中有7個是在澳大利亞和加拿大。悉尼以96.1的分數排在加拿大的卡爾加里和亞伯達後面。它由於在文化、環境和穩定性方面的分數較低而輸給了阿德萊德和墨爾本。珀斯以95.9的分數排名第九，新西蘭的奧克蘭以95.7的分數也擠進了前十名。芬蘭的赫爾辛基拿了第八名。

“那些成績好的往往是中等規模的城市，在相對人口密度較低的富裕國家，”EIU報告補充說，“這可以促進一系列的休閒活動，而不導致高的犯罪率和負擔過重的基礎設施。”

維州州長Daniel Andrews說，他對於保持墨爾本坐在頭把交椅的計劃是25.4億澳元的用於墨爾本經濟的投資，特別是在改善交通基礎設施上。 “墨爾本擁有最好的一切，這個頭銜可以證明這一點…… 在醫療保健、教育、基礎設施、文化、環境和體育方面的完美打分都可以說明沒有任何地方可以與維多利亞媲美，”他說。

在名單的尾部是一些面臨社會動盪和恐怖威脅的城市，即利比亞的黎波里。尼日利亞的拉各斯、巴布亞新幾內亞的莫爾斯比港、孟加拉國的達卡和敘利亞的大馬士革- 它們以30.6的分數被評為世界上最差的城市。

來源：移民聯盟

ATO數據匹配- 簽證持有人、擔保人以及移民代理

稅務行政長官發布了一份針對簽證持有人的數據匹配程序公報。該數據匹配程序的公報- 移民簽證持有者公報- C2015G01255將允許澳大利亞稅務局從移民局那裡獲取2013-14,、2014-15/2015-16財政年度的簽證持有者、他們的擔保人以及他們的移民代理的姓名、地址和其他有關細節。

信息將從大約100萬名簽證持有者那裡收集，包括：

• 簽證申請者和擔保人的居住地址歷史記錄
• 簽證持有者和擔保人的聯繫記錄
• 所有所獲批的簽證
• 某些時段的簽證狀態
• 移民代理（幫助準備簽證申請的人）
• 移民代理的地址歷史記錄
• 移民代理的聯繫記錄
• 簽證申請者的所有進出境記錄
• 擔保人的詳細信息（457簽證）
• 教育機構（學生簽證持有者打算進行學習的所在教育機構）
• 簽證子類別名稱

這些信息將用於改進簽證程序以及整體的合規，減少關於移民的欺詐行為，並協助移民局製定方案以促進有效運作和合規性。

來源：MIA&ATO

從2015年年10月1日起澳大利亞護照的申請費用將有所改變

申請費用將根據不同的標準而有所不同，包括：

• 成人、兒童、老人（75歲以上）
• 有效期長度
• 定期或經常旅行版
• 優先與緊急處理要求

詳情請參閱澳大利亞護照局：www.passports.gov.au

來源：MIA

Vietnam and Nepal: New addresses for providing personal identifiers

Nepal

The changed addresses for the Australian visa application centre is:

Kathmandu

Australian Visa Application Centre

Ananda Shreei Niwas

Ward No.3, Sankha Marg – 113

Maharajganj, Kathmandu

Nepal

Vietnam

Two new offices have been opened in Vietnam of the Australian Visa Application Centre:

Hanoi

Australian Visa Application Centre

Vinafor Building, 1st Floor

127 Lo Duc Street

Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh City

Australian Visa Application Centre

Resco Tower, 2nd Floor

94-96 Nguyen Du Street

District 1, Ho Chi Minh City

Socialist Republic of Vietnam

Source: MIA & DIBP

Melbourne private high school has been shut down

The school which generated about $1million in revenue per year from students was found to have had extensive breaches of regulations governing overseas students, according to a report on the ABC.

It remains unclear what will happen to the visas of 70 students of the school – some who reportedly paid $18,600 per year in tuition fees.

According to the ABC, documents filed with Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), indicated the failure of some students to sign in for classes for weeks at a time was not investigated by the school, despite visa requirements that stipulate they must sign in twice a day. It said that the teaching of English language was also a particular concern, with audits from 2010 to 2014 revealing the school failing to comply with VCAA standards.

The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) ordered the Melbourne Senior Secondary College (MSSC) to shut down because it failed to comply with a number of matters in the Education Services for Overseas Students Act which included the following:

• Inadequate records on working with children checks for adults overseeing, living with up to 14 students under 18

• “Disturbing finding" that teachers were pressured to inflate grades

• “Serious concerns" about the academic standards and quality of education

• Unsatisfactory attendance records despite the need for data to comply with visa requirements

The school is appealing the closure order at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The school’s principal, Jian Wang, did not respond to email and phone messages from the ABC.

“But in his submission to the VRQA, Mr Wang countered that in the 11 years his school had been operating, 500 students had passed their VCE and the school had contributed $18 million to the Victorian economy,” notes the ABC.

Mr Wang apparently received an award from the City of Melbourne in 2010 for his contribution to small business.

Source: Migration Alliance

Somebody’s watching you and it could lead to better wages or deportation

The Fairwork ombudsman is trying to make ‘inroads’ into migrant communities through its newly appointed team of Community Engagement Officers, whose aim is to protect foreign workers on the one hand and help deport illegal workers they find along the way, on the other.

The FWO says its recently launched program aims to “foster new relationships with international student bodies and multicultural communities…to ensure migrant workers, overseas workers, international students and employers are aware of their workplace rights and responsibilities,” declared the statement from the FWO.

The program will also be used to uncover illegal workers. In June, the Fair Work Ombudsman joined with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) to form Taskforce Cadena to jointly combat the incidence of fraud and exploitation involving foreign workers in Australia. One of the stated aims of Taskforce Cadena is to utilise intelligence from a range of sources to identify and investigate major targets of interest.

The FWO statement noted that visa-holders now account for 11 per cent of all requests for assistance received by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Last financial year, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered $1.6 million in underpaid wages and entitlements for visa-holders – up from $1.1 million in 2013-14.

FWO Ombudsman, Ms Natalie James said that the Fair Work Ombudsman has been active in this area for many years and understands that visa holders can face a number of barriers to understanding and enforcing their workplace rights.  “Youth, language and cultural differences, concerns about their visa status all contribute to these barriers and can also make them more vulnerable to exploitation,” she said.

“We are particularly concerned about the treatment of visa-holders by labour-hire contractors operating in the horticulture and poultry processing sectors. We are also conscious that exploitation of visa-holders is a persistent issue in Australia in industries known to employ high numbers of overseas workers, such as hospitality, cleaning, convenience stores and trolley collectors.”

Source: Migration Alliance