The Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2016 will mandate character checks of sponsors of all family visa applications, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has announced.

Currently police checks are required for sponsors in applications where children are involved and specifically focus on the protection of children. The legislative changes will expand checks to all sponsors and Dutton said this will allow better consideration of the potential for family violence.

They will enable the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to refuse sponsorship applications in circumstances where the sponsor has convictions for paedophilia, other offences against children or offences relating to violence.

In refusing an application, the Department will have to consider a range of factors including the length of the relationship, the type of offence and how recently it occurred, the relevance of the offence to the family relationship and any other mitigating circumstances.

‘Newly arrived migrants are among the more vulnerable people in our community. They are less likely to have an established support network, may not have an English speaking background and are less likely to know how to seek assistance,’ said Dutton.

‘These changes add an important safeguard to the family visa programme and will ensure sponsors are aware of their obligations under Australian law and are appropriately assessed before being approved as a family sponsor,’ he explained.

‘Strengthened information sharing provisions will also ensure that both applicants and sponsors can make fully informed decisions before committing to the visa application process,’ he added.

The Minister for Women Michaelia Cash said the Bill is an important step toward protecting women and children against the very real threat of family violence. She pointed out that in 2015/2016 some 529 partner visa applicants claimed they were victims of family violence, compared to 458 claims made the previous year.

‘While applicants for a partner visa who seek to remain in Australia on grounds of family violence make up less than two per cent of the partner visa caseload, we are committed to implementing policies to keep women arriving in Australia safe from violence,’ Cash added.

She explained that the changes support the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children by implementing sections of Action Item 11 from the Second Action Plan requiring additional information disclosure by the Australian husband or fiancé applying for an overseas spouse visa.

What this means for you?

If you are considering lodging your Partner Visa application, we would strongly recommend lodging your applications as soon as possible.

As all applications lodged after the new regulations are implemented in November 2016 will have to meet even more rigorous criteria, especially for Sponsors.

News from: Australiaforum.com

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The temporary sponsored parent visa would make it easier for the parents to visit their children who have migrated to Australia. In planning the new visa, the Australian government recognises that aged parents are also an asset to their families, and families are the fundamental building blocks to their society, explains Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.

He adds reuniting three generations of families has great benefits to society. In making wide consultations, the Turnbull government aims to enable the setting of the visa to have the most options, reports SBS.

However, among the conditions for the grant of the visa would be for the aged parents to secure private health insurance and financial guarantee from their children in Australia so they would not be a burden to the Australian government. In that way, the new visa would be more affordable than current arrangements without burdening the taxpayer, reports ABC.

There is still an option for the issuance of permanent visas to parents under Australia’s Migration Programme, but the number of visas is small and waiting times could take long, up to 30 years to process, according to the discussion paper. However, with the proposed temporary visa, processing time would be cut to two years only.

Hawke says the new visa would be available to parents of Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens. The timetable is for the new visa to be in place by July 2017.

News from: International Business Times (Au Edition)

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A new category of visa to attract and retain the best and brightest entrepreneurial talent is now open to new applications.

This new visa has been established for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and financial backing from a third party and was launched on 10 September 2016.

This new visa allows entrepreneurs with $200,000 in funding from specified third party to develop and commercialise their innovative ideas in Australia.

The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton said the Government was driving economic growth through innovation, including through our Business Innovation and Investment visa programme.

“The new Entrepreneur visa provides a pathway to permanent residence and allows entrepreneurs with $200,000 in funding from a specified third party to develop and commercialise their innovative ideas in Australia,” Mr Dutton said.

These changes are aimed to help Australia attract and retain the best and brightest entrepreneurial talent.

This visa also provides a pathway to permanent residency in Australia.

To be eligible to apply for Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional) visa (subclass 188), Entrepreneur Stream, you must:

• be under 55 years of age, although a state or territory can waive this requirement if your proposed complying entrepreneur activity will be of exceptional economic benefit to the nominating state or territory
• have competent English and be able to provide evidence of this at the time you are invited to apply for the visa
• be undertaking or proposing to undertake a complying entrepreneur activity in Australia and have a genuine intention to continue this activity
• nominated by a state or territory government

A Complying Entrepreneur Activity is an activity that relates to an innovative idea that will lead to the commercialisation of a product or service in Australia, or the development of an enterprise or business in Australia.

(Article from SBS)

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However, if you travel by NSW public transport, have small children, are planning to buy or sell a home, have a student loan or buy medications from the chemist – here’s some things you should take notice of. 

Opal Card ticket changes

Most regular travellers have already bitten the travel ticket bullet and switched to Opal Card.

Just as well because from today, the only paper tickets available will be single Adult and Concession tickets (trains, buses, ferries and light rail) and return Adult and Concession tickets (trains, ferries and light rail).

Paper tickets purchased before 1 January 2016 can still be used for travel. They won’t be valid indefinitely, so should be use up as quickly as possible.

The decision to stop selling most types of paper tickets means up to half a million pensioners and seniors have had to sign up for a Gold Opal pass, or otherwise be left paying regular concession fares.

About 70 per cent of all public transport trips are now made using an Opal card, and 3.3 million cards have been issued since the system began on ferries in December, 2012.

Vaccinating your kids

Parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids will be denied up to $15,000 a year in childcare rebates and welfare under tough new rules which take effect today right across Australia.

The so-called No Jab, No Play rules were supported by both sides of the Federal Parliament.

Under the new laws the ‘conscientious ­objector’ loophole will be closed. Previously this allowed parents with an objection to vaccination to opt out. The rules will not apply when there is a proven medical reason for not vaccinating.

Parents who fail to immunise their children will no longer be paid the $200-a-week childcare benefit, the $7500-a-year childcare rebate or the $726 Family Tax Benefit A annual supplement.

The combined childcare and welfare payments at risk could amount to up to $30,000 a year for a family with two young children.

Buying and selling a home

If you are planning to buy or sell a home, these new laws are important.

Underquoting laws will be overhauled as of today to help clarify how real estate agents should market properties.

Underquoting describes when an agent understates the estimated selling price of a property. This can cause interested buyers to waste time and money on inspecting properties, getting reports and attending auctions based on misleading estimates of the selling price.

Under amendments to the Property Stock and Business Agents Act 2002 agents will be required to provide written evidence of their estimated selling price to the vendor and this estimate must be stated in the agency agreement.

Agents must not quote a figure less than their estimated selling price provided in the agency agreement. The estimated selling price can be a single figure or a price range and if a price range is used, the highest price must not be more than 10 per cent higher than the lowest price.

The idea is to stop the use of price guides that include the terms ‘offers over’, ‘offers above’ or any similar terms and statements.

Drugs from the chemist

Changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) take effect from today, with about 17 items being removed from the schedule.

The drugs are:

antacids (eg Gaviscon, Mylanta and Gastrogel)
paracetamol (eg Panamax, Panadol Osteo)
iron tablets (eg Ferro-Gradumet)
aspirin – pain and blood-thinning products
B12 injections
hydrocortisone creams and ointments
folic acid tablets (eg Megafol)

Under the PBS, the government subsidises the cost of medication for most medical conditions. The items removed are among the cheaper items on the schedule. Paracetamol is the fourth most prescribed drug on the PBS. The Government expects to save $80 million per year which will be shifted to other newer drugs.

The changes are expected to hit the pocket of older customers the most, with many retirees and nursing home residents relying on the removed medications for daily pain management. The new rules mean pharmacies can offer a $1 discount on PBS prescriptions to help offset the impact, but that in turn means customers will take longer to reach their Safety Net threshold.

Under the current Safety Net rules, when a customer reaches 60 concessional prescriptions at $6.20 each for the year, their prescriptions are free of charge for the rest of that year.

Repaying your student loan

From today, people who have benefited from Australian student loans and now live overseas will pay for them the same way as they would if they lived in Australia.

Minister for Education and Training Senator Simon Birmingham said it was estimated that up to $30 million was lost annually due to graduates moving overseas and from today those graduates would be required to notify the Australian Taxation Office to arrange repayments.

Minister Birmingham said recouping debts under the Higher Education Loan Programme or Trade Support Loan scheme would ensure Australia’s world-class, income-contingent student loans scheme was fairer and more sustainable into the future.

(Article from the Daily Telegraph)

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Synchronised to a soundtrack of some of 2015’s biggest hits, including Uptown Funk and Hold Back the River, the almost 15-minute fireworks show sent crowds into rapturous cheers and applause.

The $7 million party kicked off early on Thursday, with a vast and proud Aboriginal Welcome to Country ceremony ushering in the iconic fireworks display, putting local Gadigal, Wangal and Gamaragal traditions front and centre in global new year celebrations.

At 8.40pm the Sydney Harbour Bridge was transformed into a giant canvas, using new technologies to present the world’s oldest dance form in honour of Australia’s First Nations culture, land and peoples.

Fireworks and special effects turned the structure into a giant Aboriginal flag, complete with a red waterfall cascading from the bridge base shortly after the sun set for the last time in 2015.

Sail boats, yachts and private ferries took up position on the harbour, for prime positions early on Thursday.

(The fireworks seen from Barangaroo park. Photo by Brook Mitchell)

On land, the best vantage points filled up hours before the clock struck 12.

And the massive crowds that filled the Harbourside parks and reserves had claimed their prime positions early – some camping out for days to secure their spot.

The Sydney Opera House grounds were full by 2.30pm, with crowds settling in for a nine-and-a-half hour wait for the midnight fireworks.

(Article from SMH, cover image photo by Janie Barrett)

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Due to increasing demand for our services, we now seek to appoint a quality minded and client focussed person to our dynamic, forward thinking team. The purpose of the role is to serve clients, draft documents, and prepare applications.

The key duties involve:

• Provide superior, responsive and personalised service to clients;
• Draft various types of documents;
• Conduct research;
• Prepare various types of applications;
• Manage time, case-loads, deadlines, and act independently;
• Translating and interpreting tasks between Chinese (Mandarin) and English languages.

Requirements for the successful applicants:

• Bachelor or higher degree;
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills;
• Strong attention to detail;
• Well presented;
• Be client focused;
• Be a dedicated team player;
• Fluency in English and Chinese Mandarin is essential;
• Accreditation as a translator is preferable, though not essential;
• Previous experience within a migration services firm will be highly regarded;
• Australian Permanent Residents and Australian Citizens are preferred, but Australian Temporary Residents are also welcome.

Application ends on 1st April 2016

To apply for this role, please send you cover letter and CV to this email: jobs@crlaw.com.au or apply online

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In a press conference on Monday morning, Mr Abbott said that the Productivity Commission was asked to look at a whole range of issues, and it was unlikely the Coalition government would allow migrants to pay entry fees to gain permanent residency visas as floated by the Commission in its release on Friday.

“Everyone knows that the immigration policy of this government is fairly and squarely based on what is in the best interests and what is in accordance with the best values of our country,” Mr Abbott said. “That’s the way it is and that’s the way it will stay as far as I’m concerned.”

As reported by Fairfax on Monday, the Productivity Commission has been investigating a price-based immigration system that would use entry fees as the primary determinant for who gains entry to Australia.

Such a scheme could help the government rein in the budget deficit by bringing in tens of billions of dollars in extra revenue and allow it to trim the number of public servants administering Australia’s immigration system.

The government established the inquiry, which will issue its final report next March, in a deal to secure Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm’s support for the reintroduction of temporary protection visas for asylum seekers.

Mr Leyonhjelm said he was not surprised by Mr Abbott’s comments but argued that the logic of the proposal would “penetrate government ranks” once the commission delivers its report next year.

“Australia does need more immigrants,” he said. “It will lower our taxes and we might love [immigrants] a lot.”

In the press conference Mr Abbott also claimed that by preventing people smuggling boats making the journey to Australia, the government had saved half a billion dollars, ahead of this year’s budget to be released next week.

“The great thing about Operation Sovereign Borders is that, in stopping the boats, we have stopped the deaths,” Mr Abbott said.

“If you want to keep life safe, you’ve got to keep the boats stopped. But not only has there been a human dividend, a very important human benefit from stopping the boats, there has been a budget dividend as well.

“In the budget to be brought down next week, there will be a half a billion dollar saving as a result of the success of Operation Sovereign Borders.”

with Matthew Knott and Deborah Snow from SMH

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Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb, who is also the minister responsible for tourism, announced the initiative tonight in Adelaide at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards.

Mr Robb said the government was determined to do what it can to help Australia capture more than its share of the rapidly growing Chinese tourist market.

Previously, visitor visas for Chinese travellers were only valid for 12 months. The new visitor visa provision follows the introduction of three-year, multiple entry Chinese business visas in February 2014

“Chinese tourists are increasingly more discerning and looking for an authentic Australian experience. Repeat visitors are an increasingly important market sector as they tend to stay for longer periods and are higher yielding in terms of their spending,” Mr Robb said.

Mr Robb said research also showed that repeat Chinese visitors were more likely to venture to regional areas, which was good for local economies.

“Ongoing visa reform and deregulation was part of a broader effort to ensure our tourism and hospitality sector remains competitive in an increasingly crowded global tourism market,” he said.

Around 100 million Chinese left China for an overseas holiday last year, a figure that is predicted to reach 200 million by 2020.

Nearly 790,000 Chinese travellers visited Australia in the year to September 2014, spending close to $5.4 billion.  In the year to September 2014, 47 per cent of arrivals from China were repeat visitors and they accounted for around $3.3 billion or 60 per cent of Chinese expenditure.

This latest initiative follows a series of other measures which include:

• Striking a landmark air services agreement with China that will see capacity triple over the next 18 months from 22,500 seats per week from China last year to 67,000 per week by the end of 2016.
• $43 million for a new Tourism Demand-Driver Infrastructure Programme.
• $2 million to support the staging of Australia Week in China (AWIC) again in 2016.
• Extending streamlined SmartGate traveller processing trials to visitors from Hong Kong and China during 2015.
• $10 million in new funding for the Australia-China Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme.
• Freezing the Passenger Movement Charge for this term of office, a tax on tourism and hospitality that increased 45 per cent under the previous Labor government.

“Tourism and hospitality is one of Australia’s great strengths. It is our largest services export – worth $30 billion in export income – and directly or indirectly employs one million Australians, including large numbers in regional Australia. As a government we are determined to back our strengths,” Mr Robb said.

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A “Western Harbour Tunnel” is the centrepiece of the Baird government’s new 20 year and $20 billion infrastructure vision. Construction of the road tunnel, revealed by Fairfax Media on Saturday, could start at the beginning of the next decade, the government said on Tuesday morning.

But no price tag has been put on the tunnel and only a fraction of the potential funding needed for the project has been set aside.

Among other announcements included in the government’s response to the latest State Infrastructure Strategy is a $7 billion funding commitment to a new harbour rail crossing.

Construction of that crossing, which will link the north-west rail link in the north and the Bankstown Line in the south, will start in 2017, the government said.

The funding commitments, however, are predicated on raising $20 billion from the privatisation of further electricity assets.

At the release of the State Infrastructure Strategy, the NSW Premier, Mike Baird, made clear the funding promises were his pre-election sales pitch.

“Today, we stand at the crossroads,” Mr Baird said.

“Our roads, rail, schools and hospitals have not kept up with population growth in this country.

“Today, we have an opportunity to end this neglect.”

The $20 billion package also includes a promise of $1 billion for a light rail line around Parramatta, though the route for that line has not yet been chosen.

And there is also a $2 billion boost to schools and hospitals, a $1.2 billion Sport and Cultural Fund, a $1.3 billion package for Sydney to boost “the productivity the city’s roads” and $4.1 billion extra for regional transport.

Another $1 billion is set aside for an unspecified series of works to upgrade the capacity of Sydney’s western rail line.

The new harbour western road tunnel would run from Rozelle to northern Sydney, near the connection between the M2 Motorway and the Warringah Freeway.

Mr Baird was accompanied at the press conference by Deputy Premier Troy Grant, and the authors of the Infrastructure Strategy, Infrastructure NSW chairman Graham Bradley and chief executive Jim Betts.

(Article from SMH)

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The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and human rights lawyers including David Manne have written submissions. They will also appear at a hearing into the suggested legislation on Friday in Canberra.

The key issues against the bill include removing international legal accountability; fast-tracking refugee assessments that do not allow any right of appeal; and removing references to the Refugee Convention in Australian law. There were 5712 submissions to the legal and constitutional affairs legislation committee. The majority were against the changes.

The UNHCR said it was particularly concerned about a decision to “fundamentally alter” Australia’s obligations to refugees assumed by Australia on its signing of the 1951 convention relating to the status of refugees.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the bill was “radically cruel”.

“This bill is an affront to Australian decency and compassion,” she said.

Mr Morrison has maintained that the proposed changes will enable the government to stop the boats, and resolve the “legacy caseload” of 30,000 asylum seekers who arrived under the Labor government.

This month, the government’s human rights committee, chaired by Liberal senator Dean Smith, found the proposed changes were incompatible with Australia’s human rights obligations.

The report, delivered by the joint parliamentary committee on human rights, was scathing of nearly all of the government’s proposed changes to the act, saying they would put Australia at odds with international human rights law.

It was particularly critical of a proposal to cut the time in which asylum seekers’ refugee claims would be assessed, warning it could lead to genuine refugees being sent home to face persecution or torture.

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