PHOTO: Grant rate of student visa applications decided in the three month period between 1 July 2013 and 30 September 2013 by citizenship country and client location. (Supplied: Australian government)

The ABC reports that the number of Indian students coming to Australia is rapidly rising with the number of higher education visa applications lodged by students in India to study in Australia more than doubling from 1,987 to 4,148 in the year to September 2013.

India's growing economy has pulled hundreds of millions of people into the middle class and has given them the means and the drive to pursue higher education, reports the ABC.

"Students are no longer just going to Australia seeking permanent residency, they are actually going there to get a quality education," Rhian Thomas, group vice president at The Chopras education services company in New Delhi, said.

Migration Alliance expresses it's condolences following the tragic death of Margaret Tannous, a former DIBP officer, RMA and much loved member of Migration Alliance.

She was an outstanding professional and keen advocate for the rights of migration agents and regular attendee at LTA CPD events. 

Our thoughts are with her family at this time.  Words cannot express how much she will be missed by this profession.

With the Department of Employment stating that there is no shortage of accountants in Australia and calling for accounting to be taken off the Skilled Occupation List for migrants, peak industry bodies and employers alike warn that the shortage will become apparent as the economy picks up.

More new graduates are having a hard time finding work and companies now can afford to be choosy about who to hire, reports The Australian Financial Review.

"Accounting has already been flagged by the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency, which develops annual advice on the skilled list for DIBP as an occupation now considered a “borderline” inclusion on the list. The agency is doing a special investigation in the supply and demand for accounting skills." says the report.

It’s argued that the link between accountancy and permanent visas has resulted in the number of international ­graduates finishing undergraduate accounting degrees skyrocketing by 500 per cent between 2001 and 2012.

However the number of Australians studying accounting has fallen 20 per cent since 2001. Peak accounting bodies are thus concerned that if the foreign stream should slow as the Australian economy picks up, a shortage may become apparent.

With the number of people in Australia aged 85 and older projected to quadruple to more than 1.8 million over the next 40 years, Australia's Age Discrimination Commissioner warns that, “We need to recognise and plan for this increased need for health service provision. This is an urgent and critical challenge for Australia: if we don’t provide properly for aged care, we will have a human rights disaster on our hands.”

Speaking at the National Aged Care Alliance meeting in Canberra on Friday, Australia’s Age Discrimination Commissioner Ms Susan Ryan has requested that the Minister for Immigration consider including ‘aged care worker’ on the skilled occupation list.

Ms Ryan said that many valuable aged care workers came from recent immigrant populations and through “more targeted immigration initiatives” Australia could increase the number of skilled aged care workers.

She also singled out career changers as another important source of potential workers for the sector.  “Increasingly, aged care workers also come from other parts of the labour market, from second or third career moves, or people coming from declining sectors – and aged care can be a good option for older workers who are having difficulty finding jobs,” she said.

The Courier Mail reports that over 30 men and women’s marriages were allegedly arranged in an ‘organised and ongoing operation’ as more details of the alleged fake marriage visa scam emerge in the bail application hearing for Chetan Mohanlal Mashru, 34, and his partner Divya Krishne Gowda, in Brisbane.

Some 33 prosecution’s witnesses, bank statements and marriage certificates are expected to be part of the evidence against the Indian-born couple accused of serious migration offences, a Brisbane court heard yesterday at a bail hearing.

In opposing the bail application for the accused couple, Commonwealth prosecutors reportedly argued that “the couple ran an “organised and ongoing operation” from March 2011 to March 2012 when they allegedly charged between $10,000 and $20,000 for each marriage.

 “The defendant (Gawda) profited significantly from the offences ...It’s difficult to comprehend a more serious offence of this type,” said the prosecutors.

The Courier Mail reports that initial concerns about the couple’s dealings emerged in 2012 when journalists questioned and reported the alleged scam. Thereafter, the couple reportedly left Australia and stayed abroad for over six months.