Some 85% of those surveyed by the Scanlon Foundation say they believe that multiculturalism has been good for Australia, according to a recent report on the SBS.

Data referred to in the Scanlon Foundation's Multiculturalism Discussion Paper shows Australians are generally very accepting of cultural diversity and immigration, but the level of support varies across generations, geographical locations and demographic groups.

Research Professor at Monash University Andrew Markus says this report looks in detail at research that's been going on over the past 30 years.

From 1 July, 2015 Significant Investor Visa (SIV) applicants are required to invest 40% of their complying investment into Venture Capital (VC) and small public company shares, and the balance of the $5M into Australian managed funds or listed investment companies.  

There has been much media attention, particularly in relation to a slowdown in applications versus the SIV1 investment regime. Whilst there have been 149 expressions of interest to date, only 6 visas have been granted under the new SIV 2 framework.

We are interested in gaining your feedback on how the SIV program is going, particularly in relation to any insights from potential applicants, and any challenges or opportunities you are experiencing.

An agreement has been signed between Australia and Hungary to enable the countries' youth to experience each other's culture through the Work and Holiday (sc 462) program.

Under the arrangement, 200 people who are at least 18 but not yet 31 years of age will be able to travel to each other’s country for one year and undertake short-term work and study under the Work and Holiday subclass 462 visa.

Similar agreements already exist with Argentina, Bangladesh, Chile, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, and Uruguay. At present, only passports holder from the USA can apply online.

At the signing ceremony earlier this week, the immigration minister, Mr Peter Dutton said that Australia will be working closely with our Hungarian counterparts to establish a mutually agreed start date for this arrangement as soon as possible. Similar agreements signed with Vietnam, Greece, Israel, and Papua New Guinea have stalled and not yet commenced.

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Readers of this blog may be aware that in the weekly newsletter that our sister organization, the Migration Institute of Australia, released on 24 February, it reported that it was receiving a large number of complaints from RMAs that nominations of occupations for  457 visas are being refused on the basis that the position for which the sponsoring employer has nominated  is “not genuine”. 

It is therefore timely to review a recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia that dealt with the question of how the “genuineness” of a position is to be determined.  That case was Cargo First Pty Ltd v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2016) FCA 30 (3 February 2016). 

(I would like to note that our colleague at the Migration Alliance, Chris Levingston, acted for the sponsoring company in these proceedings at the Federal Circuit Court level, and thus presumably also before the Federal Court!) 

The AAT has asked Migration Alliance to distribute the following message:

AAT registry services have moved to Level 6 at 83 Clarence Street, Sydney

Registry services at our 83 Clarence Street office are now available from Level 6.