Minister announces new immigration advisory council

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, today announced the establishment of the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution.

The council will provide independent advice on the implementation of measures associated with the government’s immigration policy initiatives including New Directions in Detention and the national rollout of the Community Status Resolution Service.

‘The Government’s focus is on resolving the immigration status of people quickly and fairly while ensuring they are treated humanely and with dignity and respect,’ Senator Evans said.

‘The council will provide independent advice on policies, services and programs to achieve timely, fair and effective resolution of immigration status for people seeking asylum or other migration outcomes in Australia.

‘The terms of reference and membership of the council reflects the range of expertise required to implement the Government’s New Directions in Detention policy.’

The council, which succeeds the Immigration Detention Advisory Group, will meet for the first time on October 21 to identify priority issues to be addressed over the next two years. The IDAG provided valuable advice on the adequacy of detention services, accommodation and facilities at immigration detention centres around Australia.

The new council will also advise on the suitability of facilities and service delivery arrangements but its major focus will be on assisting the department with strategies to resolve a person’s immigration status in a community setting rather than in a detention centre provided they pose no risk to the community.

The council will be chaired by Paris Aristotle AM, director of the Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture and a former member of Immigration Detention Advisory Group with more than 25 years’ experience in the field.

Other members will include:

Air Marshal Ray Funnell AC (Retd) – former Chief of Air Force and a former member of IDAG, Air Marshal Funnell will serve as the deputy chair for the group

Ms Kerrin Benson – chief executive officer of the Multicultural Development Association

Mr Noel Clement – general manager of domestic operations for the Australian Red Cross

Ms Caz Coleman – project director of the Hotham Mission asylum seeker project

Ms Libby Lloyd AM – chair of the former National Council to Reduce Violence Against Women and was recently appointed to chair the Violence Against Women Advisory Group

Dr Maryanne Loughry – associate director of Jesuit Refugee Service–Australia. Dr Loughry is a psychologist, a research scholar at Boston College and the University of Oxford and a member of the Governing Council of the International Catholic Migration Commission

Associate Professor Harry Minas – director of the Centre for International Mental Health, University of Melbourne and the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit, he is a former member of IDAG and chair of the Detention Health Advisory Group (DeHAG)

Associate Professor Nicholas Procter – Associate Professor, school of nursing and midwifery, University of South Australia

Dr Jamal Rifi – Dr Rifi is the 2009 NSW Local Hero of the Year and Recipient of 2007 Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission Award. He is a former Commissioner for the Community Relations Commission for a Multicultural NSW, a general practitioner and an active community volunteer

Professor Samina Yasmeen – director of the Centre for Muslim States and Societies at the University of Western Australia and a current member of the Australian Multicultural Advisory Council (AMAC).

‘I believe the new group will provide valuable perspectives and their community links will help to strengthen the provision of community services to immigration clients in support of timely case resolution,’ the minister said.

The minister acknowledged the work of members of the previous Immigration Detention Advisory Group.

‘I’d like to acknowledge and thank the valuable and long–standing contribution of members of the Immigration Detention Advisory Group since its establishment in 2001,’ Senator Evans said.

‘Their independent expert advice provided to the previous and current government has been greatly appreciated.’

Information about the Council for Immigration Services and Staus Resolution (CISSR) – Terms of Reference is available on the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s website.
See: Council for Immigration Services and Staus Resolution (CISSR) – Terms of Reference

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Closure of the Capital Investment Scheme on 31 October 2009

From 31 October 2009, the South Australian Government Financing Authority (SAFA) has announced it will not accept any further applications from General Skilled Migration (GSM) applicants who wish to lodge a capital investment, as it will close the scheme.

Since the announcement of the reopening of the capital investment scheme by SAFA on 29 January 2009, the department has contacted all applicants whose cases had been assessed and who indicated they intended to lodge a capital investment.

Any applicants who have indicated on their application form that they intend to lodge a capital investment, but have not yet done so, are advised to finalise their capital investment before the scheme is closed.

Applicants who did not indicate on their application form that they intended to lodge a capital investment, but now wish to do so because they will be relying on the five bonus points to meet the Point Test, should also contact the department and finalise their capital investment before the scheme is closed.

This is the final opportunity for all pre 1 September 2007 GSM applicants to lodge a capital investment. As there will be no further capacity for applicants to make a capital investment to gain the bonus five (5) points, the department will not provide applicants any additional time to make a capital investment once the scheme offered by SAFA closes. Please note that this also applies to those applicants who have appealed to the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) and those applicants seeking judicial review.

Applicants who still intend to make a capital investment are strongly urged to do so before 31 October 2009.

Please note that only SAFA provides an approved designated security that enables an applicant for a pre-1 September 2007 GSM visa to be awarded bonus points for making a capital investment.

For more information  :  http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/capital-investment-scheme-faqs.htm

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What is Australian JobSearch?

JobSearch is Australia’s largest free online jobs website.

 It is funded and operated by the Australian Government as a free service to assist job seekers into employment and connect employers with quality staff.

Job Services Australia providers and public employers upload their job vacancies to JobSearch and search for potentially suitable staff.

Job seekers can search for jobs via the map on the homepage by choosing their state, local area and occupation category. The advanced search function includes more detail in searching criteria.

Everyone is welcome to use JobSearch to search for vacancies. It’s free to register and take advantage of the complete range of services.

Vacancies displayed on JobSearch come from many different sources, including:                                                                   

• public employers
• Job Services Australia providers
• newspapers
• the Australian Public Service
• the Australian Defence Force
• the Harvest Trail.

For job seekers

JobSearch has a range of features to help you search for a job, including:

• free registration for all Australians seeking work
• jobs across all industries and regions of Australia
• your own personal page, where you can create a job match profile, upload your resume and use our instant job list to find jobs based on your skills and experience
• links to employment assistance and information for all job seekers.

For employers

JobSearch has a number of features to help you find the right person for your job, including:

• the ability to search for staff based on criteria in your advertisement using our find staff feature
• high visibility of your jobs – with around 1 million people visiting JobSearch each month
• a secure personal page to manage your advertised jobs or view past jobs
• phone help from the Employer Hotline 13 17 15 to advertise new jobs or check the status of your existing jobs.
• http://jobsearch.gov.au

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Senior Infrastructure Estimator Opportunities Australia-wide

Location: Australia     
Salary:
Company: Valuable Resources Ltd
Sector: Traffic and Transport
Job role: Estimator
Job type: Permanent
Date posted: 18/06/2009 18:50  

• High profile national infrastructure group
• Attractive Salary Package $$$ with relocation support

‘Reach beyond your Estimations….Go Global!’

Our client is one of Australia’s leading infrastructure engineering groups, involved in delivering key projects across Australia as well as overseas.They operate in civil, marine, rail, pipelines and mining infrastructure and have a reputation which is second to none.

Opportunities exist for intermediate to senior estimators to join their highly professional team in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne.

These appointments will suit an experienced engineering professional with proven experience in estimating and cost planning of civil construction.

We are interested in talking to enthusiastic Estimators seeking to relocate to Australia & who can demonstrate the following:

• Tertiary qualifications in a related discipline
• Solid estimating experience in the construction or building industry with sound costing analytical skills
• Experience in any of the following sectors:Civil, Marine, Rail, Pipelines & Mining Infrastructure
• Proficient in planning, organising and working to time lines
• Strong communication skills and capable of enthusiastically engaging others.

An attractive salary is on offer with assistance in relocating to Australia.

If you are relocating to Australia now or the near future and wish to discuss these opportunities further please call Ben Dodd in our UK office on +44 (0) 7976 221 381.

Alternatively send your CV outlining your skills and experience to date to apply@valuableresources.co.uk.

Take your skills to the world, Go Global at www.valuableresources.co.uk  All applications will be treated in confidence.

Reference: CareerStructure/CS12009BD

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Media Release: Creating a Welcoming Environment for International Students

The Migration Institute of Australia supports calls for a Senate Inquiry into international education in Australia.    

The sector deserves closer scrutiny by government, including an attempt to crack down on education agents here and overseas who, unlike migration agents, can act without regulation. It is an industry too valuable to be hijacked by illegal and unethical behaviour by either desperate visa seekers or unscrupulous operators.

If migration agents are involved they will be barred from the profession. This behaviour is not tolerated in the migration profession. Students who need immigration or visa advice should only rely on registered migration agents.

Once arriving here, international students deserve the wholehearted support of the Australian community and it is loathsome that those seeking an education may be targeted by violent offenders. We can’t let a valuable Australian educational experience be tainted by the shocking behaviour of the few.

Source  www.mia.org.au

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CommBank cops sustained online fraud attack

Commonwealth Bank customers are being inundated with phishing attacks, some at a rate of several scam emails a day, sent by cyber criminals seeking to steal passwords and credit card details.

The scammers, who are specifically targeting the bank in a sustained assault, are bombarding customers with several clever variations of the email ruse – such as using bogus call centres – in an attempt to hook even tech-savvy web users.

The emails have largely managed to evade spam filters using methods such as images instead of text.

Commonwealth Bank spokesman Steve Batten admitted the bank was losing the war with the fraudsters, despite working closely with the Australian Federal Police’s Australian High Tech Crime Centre.

“As soon as we close them down they are opening up elsewhere,” Batten said.

This is backed up by figures from the Australian Payments Clearing Association, which reported a 33 per cent increase in both the volume and value of fraudulent online payments in Australia for the year ended December 31, 2008.

The scam emails, which look authentic and include the Commonwealth Bank’s logo, try to trick the victim into handing over sensitive information by telling them they need to unlock an account, activate a card, claim a fee refund, update internet banking details, view an important security message or complete a survey in exchange for payment.

When the victim clicks on the link in the email, they are either infected with a password-stealing virus or presented with an official-looking page that asks them to enter their details, which are then harvested by the fraudsters.

Batten said some of the emails purport to come from actual Commonwealth Bank staff members. He stressed that the bank would never ask customers to submit sensitive information over email.

But in a new variation on the traditional “phishing” attack, which usually asks victims to click on a malicious link, one Commonwealth Bank scam email asks customers to call a Queensland phone number in order to redeem a $500 “cashback bonus”.

IT contractor Tom Howard, from the Central Coast, received the email and attempted to call the number just as an experiment.

“It’s an automated system with an American accent that welcomes you to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and then requests an account number or says something’s expired and asks for your credit card number,” he said.

The voice recording then requested Howard’s expiry date and pin number, but he just entered in random digits.

“It actually told me the information was incorrect, which suggests that it’s hooked up to a payment gateway and it’s actually trying to do an authorisation on the credit card right then and there,” he said.

Howard said he was alarmed at the sophistication of the scam and believed the bogus call centre idea would trick a lot of people.

“People have been conditioned in terms of these phishing emails to ‘don’t click on the links’, but not so much to ‘don’t call the number’,” he said.

Source: smh.com.au 

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Trading places on the net

Two WA businesses have joined forces to resurrect the 80s trend of home trading to give today’s buyers a new approach in the tough economic climate.
  
Tradehomes.com.au launched last week, in conjunction with OrangeTee Real Estate, to offer a forum where sellers can advertise their properties and negotiate an equal trade for other property, cash or any item with an asset value.
  
Common trade items include houses, land, vehicles, boats, gold, gems, stocks, bonds and jewellery, providing the traded assets total the value of the property’s price.
  
Trade Homes Australia director Kara Tripp said the service was nothing new but was giving a new breed of buyers and sellers a fresh option in a difficult market.
  
“At the end of the day, trading has always been going on behind the scenes, with people exchanging properties for properties etc; we are just creating a forum for people to do it,” Ms Tripp said.
  
“It is getting harder for some buyers to get finance so it is just thinking outside the box. If they have other assets, such as a boat, it is essentially turning that into property.” 
   

OrangeTee Real Estate was theexchanging properties for properties, providing support for traders at the negotiation and settlement stages.
  
“A lot of people get quite daunted when it comes to negotiating deals, so we thought it would be helpful to have experienced real estate agents on board, for people who like the idea but are not comfortable doing it themselves,” Ms Tripp said.
  
So far, one deal has involved the trade of an apartment for assets that included gemstones and gold.
  
REIWA president Rob Druitt said the practice was fine as long as it was well managed and researched, with all parties seeking the appropriate valuation and advice before entering into discussions.

 

LOUISE BAXTER  www.thewest.com.au

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It’s Barnett the Builder

Job creation and capital works projects will form the cornerstone of this year’s state budget, West Australian Premier Colin Barnett says. 

The WA government on Thursday will deliver its first budget since elected last year.

“It will be responsible and I think you will see it supports maintaining  jobs and supports the future development of this state,” Mr Barnett said on Wednesday.

“And you will see not only that, but a number of measures designed to maintain jobs, particularly in the small- to medium-size business sector.”

The government is under pressure to maintain a surplus after Mr Barnett’s commitment to deliver surpluses in the next two budgets.

While seeking to maintain the state’s AAA credit rating, the government is also facing demands from WA’s peak business lobby to deliver on an election promise to cut taxes by $250 million.

Mr Barnett said the state’s budget and finances would need some “rejigging” to match a $263 million federal government commitment in Wednesday’s federal budget to put the Perth rail line and bus station underground.

“Yes, we will have to have some rejigging of the state budget and finances because we originally sought 50/50 funding just to sink the rail line,” Mr Barnett said.

“The commonwealth’s taken up the point. It was an issue I discussed with the prime minister in Perth about three weeks ago and I just made the point to him quite informally that if we’re going to sink the rail line it would actually be commonsense to sink the bus station too …

“He’s obviously taken it on board so we’re going to make sure that happens.”

The federal government also pledged $339 million for a deepwater port at Oakajee, in the state’s midwest, which will boost iron ore exports in the region.

The WA government had already spent about $20 million on Oakajee and private proponents were now spending $100 million on the design of the deepwater port and rail line, he said. Continued…

www.watoday.com.au

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