Sydney TAFE has been under investigation for alleged fraud in its use of millions of dollars from a training program for students on 457 visas, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

According to the report, “Sydney Institute of TAFE generated $3.3 million last year from migration agents who were paid $380,000 in commissions for recruiting students on 457 visas.”

“A NSW Department of Education officer alleges money received under the visa program – which is meant to be spent on training for Australians and permanent residents through student scholarships – is being spent for other purposes including the payment of commissions to migration agents“ the report states.

Migration Alliance is of the view that a full audit of Training Benchmark A should be undertaken by the DIBP or some other body to ensure that the funds are spent properly and not left sitting in accounts or even worse being improperly misdirected.

In addition to this, the Migration Alliance notes that recently, the Victorian Training Market Half Year Report revealed that some TAFEs were at financial risk. Migration Alliance wrote to Senator Michaelia Cash, Assistant Minister, DIBP and Kim Vance, Director, Program Delivery DIBP with these facts and the concern that employers are being encouraged to send funds to institutions that may be at financial risk.

DIBP has announced that it is undertaking a major review of the skilled migration and temporary activity visa programmes with most visa subclasses across the skilled migration and temporary activity visa programmes to be reviewed.

“In the current climate of globalisation, it is imperative for Australia’s long term prosperity to maintain a competitive advantage in identifying, attracting and retaining overseas skilled workers. The Australian Government has therefore placed great importance on the need for a clearer, deregulated skilled migration visa framework that will help shape and define Australia’s economic future,” states DIBP.

The cornerstones of the current system are expected to be reviewed via a comparative analysis of global migration systems and domestic needs.

DIBP suggests that the following, among other aspects of the current system, will be considered:

• the skills list available for migration will be reviewed and may be broadened by prescribing an occupation list that ‘excludes occupations available for migration to Australia’;
• the ANZSCO classification will be reconsidered;
• Skill standards will be aligned to industry needs whereby the industry decides on the skill standards;
• the points system and Skillselect will be reviewed to see if  they are the most suitable mechanism to manage skilled migration;
• the age threshold for certain occupations may be increased from 50 years;
• Migrants allowed in on lower English language proficiency may be required to show an improving standard over time.

The review invites members of the public to make submissions in line with the themes outlined in the discussion paper.  All submissions must be received by us no later than 5pm AEDT, 17 October 2014.

Will the ‘budget neutral’ target lead to a doubling of visa application charges? It certainly looks set to increase and potentially by a great deal given that revenue collected is only about half of the cost of operations. The industry can only hope that with the expected cost increases, the efficiency, speed and quality of services of the department will also increase.

The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) has commenced a review into Australia's border-related fees, charges and taxes (Fees Review) on behalf of the Immigration and Border Protection Portfolio, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Mr Scott Morrison said in a statement yesterday.

Outside the Australian Taxation Office the Immigration and Border Protection portfolio is the biggest ‘tax collector' in the country. Each year border agencies collect around $3 billion in revenue from border related fees and charges. This is in addition to the billions that are collected by border agencies in excises and other taxes according to Minister Morrison.

However operational costs run over $6 billion.

Minister Morrison said one of the aims of the review is to “ensure that wherever possible we recover the costs of facilitating the movement of goods and people, to avoid drawing further on the general taxpaying community.”

Click here for the Victorian Stakeholder meeting notes held last week.

An RMA and member of the Migration Alliance reports that there is a widespread scheme in China which systematically and blatantly rorts the sc457 visa system.

The RMA who makes regular trips to China says that, “Some offshore agents (not Australian RMA's) are advertising a service fee of RMB 1million (about AUD$180,000) to get a fake 457.” 

Apparently, the fraud involves the applicant providing to the employer the contract salary upfront. This is then recycled back to the visa holder after the grant of the visa in the form of wages.

 “It's going on in the major cities where Australia has consulates.  It's going on blatantly and yet it seems DIBP in China is asleep at the wheel…they can't seem to get out and make the most simple of checks. The damage being done to Australia's reputation is incalculable.  Decent agents who will not join in this scam are not respected, in fact, we are the brunt of jokes,“ reports the RMA.

This report, amongst others conflict with the ‘clean bill of health’ proclamation by the sc457 review committee and the Minister for immigration Mr Scott Morrison. The Minister said he is satisfied with the program on the basis that government's four-member panel for the sc457 Review found "no evidence to back the widespread rorting claims of the program made by the previous Labor government when they referred [to] 10,000 visa rorters".

Audits by the Fair Work Ombudsman have found up to 40 per cent of foreign workers employed under 457 visas were underpaid, not performing the jobs they were supposed to do or no longer employed by the person who sponsored their entry into Australia, a recent report in The Sydney Morning Herald noted.