Migration Alliance, Australia China Business Council (ACBC),  and Expat Advisors Community networks are delighted to come together and invite those doing business with China to enjoy an Australian tradition – the race that stops the nation!

Sip champagne while chatting to industry colleagues, making new business connections and soaking up the first Tuesday of November  atmosphere at  The Rook rooftop bar in the Sydney CBD.

Attendees include migration agents and lawyers, accountants, wealth and investment managers, cultural advisers and a range of China active companies and consultants.

An 8-year long study, described as one of the most comprehensive studies on immigration in Australia, has found that Australians strongly support immigration and multiculturalism. Support for immigration is particularly strong among young Australians but it dwindles in regions outside capital cities.

Australia is a ‘stable and cohesive society’ with indicators of social cohesion improving particularly in recent years. This is the conclusion of researchers from the Scanlon Foundation, who tracked for 8 years, public attitudes on various social issues including immigration, multiculturalism, discrimination, and belonging, and mapped the national mood via the Scanlon-Monash Index of Social Cohesion.

“The upward trend in the social cohesion index shows that overall, Australia remains a stable and highly cohesive society,” noted the report’s author Professor Andrew Markus.

“It shows experience of discrimination based on ethnic background and religion has lessened from 18% to 15% since last year, and there continues to be a high level of acceptance of immigration and cultural diversity.

I am in receipt of the following email which I would like to share with the Migration Alliance membership, in particular, women:

Dear Liana,

We’ve all heard the expression: “There is nothing new under the sun” (in case you are really curious, this expression comes from the Bible, specifically “Ecclesiastes”).

I would reckon that most RMAs would question from their work experience just how accurate that expression really is! I suggest that it would be the more typical experience of RMAs that the opposite is really true, that instead of there being nothing new under the sun, in reality there is almost always something new under the sun – practically every day!  And (if you can bring yourself) to read the case reports on Austlii, you will see that it is really true – different, unusual, surprising and one might go so far as to say “wacky” situations come up in the Federal courts all the time!

The case that is the subject of today’s article – Patel & Anor v Minister for Immigration & Anor (2015) FCCA 28293 – involves an issue that I haven’t come across before:  Can the fraudulent conduct of the sponsor of a 457 visa holder result in the cancellation of the visa?  The answer to this question, provided by the Court in the Patel case is: “Yes it can!”

In a world first move, Australia is looking to trial passport-less travel. Virtual passports or ‘cloud passports’ may soon allow Australians to breeze through international airports without having to deal with the sometime mindless enquiries of immigration officials over their traditional passports.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop announced earlier this week that the idea of ‘passport – less’ travel was presented to and well received by a number of international leaders as part of the Australia’s InnovationXchange project.

A 'cloud passport' would work by storing the identity and biometric data of holders online so it could be checked digitally, thus eliminating the need to carry a physical copy.

One obvious benefit would mean Australians no longer would need to worry about losing or having their passports stolen. Statistics from the department of foreign affairs and trade (DFAT) show 38,718 Australian passports were reported lost or stolen in 2014-15.

The idea of document-free travel emerged from the InnovationXchange project. The project encourages DFAT employees to contribute creative ideas using their experience and expertise on the job. The $140 million InnovationXchange project was launched in May in collaboration with American publisher and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Ms Bishop said the ideas emerging from the projects were 'innovative, challenged the status quo and had the potential to transform the way we do business globally.