Indonesian nationals will have access to a three-year, multiple-entry visa to Australia from next year, signalling the federal government’s recognition of our neighbour as an increasingly important source country for tourism and business.

The change which extends the current one-year visitor visa will also allow applicants to obtain the visa more quickly and easily by 2017 via the online portal, according to a media release from the office of the immigration minister.

Immigration minister, Peter Dutton, along with Trade Minister Andrew Robb and Tourism Minister Richard Colbeck announced these initiatives while attending the Indonesia-Australia Business Week in Jakarta.

“These initiatives will benefit Indonesia and Australia as we look to promote stronger business and tourism links between our two countries,” Mr Dutton said. “This change reflects Australia’s close relationship with Indonesia and is part of the Government’s agenda to boost our tourism sector and reduce red tape.”

The media release stated that the Government is committed to expanding client access to online lodgement for visitor visas (Business and Tourist Streams) globally and supporting Australia’s position as an attractive business and tourism destination.

On 1 December, the new penalty regime for illegal foreign property purchases is expected to come into effect. The new laws will for the first time capture third party facilitators like real estate agents, accountants, and lawyers, who will face fines of $45,000 for individuals and $225,000 for a company if they knowingly assist foreign buyers to break the law.

The bill introduces a range of new and stricter penalties that will enable breaches to be dealt with according to the severity of the breach, Assistant Treasurer, Kelly O’Dywer told parliament.

The existing criminal penalties will be increased from $90,000 to $135,000 for individuals and from $450,000 to $675,000 for companies. These will be supplemented by civil pecuniary penalties and infringement notices for less serious breaches of the residential real estate rules.

“For the very first time, third parties such as real estate agents, migration agents, conveyancers and lawyers who knowingly assist a foreign investor to breach the rules will also now be subject to both civil and criminal penalties,” said Ms O’Dwyer.

Among the changes set to be introduced from 1 December 2015 is the imposition of fees for residential properties. $5000 for those valued at $1 million or less and $10,000 for property over $1 million, increasing in $10,000 increments for every million dollars thereafter.

For the first time in Australian history, teachers have gone on strike while students staged a sit-in to protest against the detention of an asylum-seeker high school student.

Iranian student, Mojgan Shamsalipoor, was months away from graduating from Yeronga State High School near Brisbane, when her visa application was refused in December 2014. She has been held in detention for almost a year now, after spending more than two years in the community and marrying an Australian resident.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton revealed in September he was personally considering a request for Ms Shamsalipoor, to be allowed to apply for a partner visa on Australian soil, after being approached by Coalition MP Natasha Griggs.

With no answer in sight, teachers at the school held a stop work meeting on Tuesday as part of an ongoing campaign to fight for the rights of Shamsalipoor and other students in similar circumstances.

Speaking at the rally, the school's Queensland Teachers Union representative, Jessica Walker, said students also refused to go to class, and held a sit-in to coincide with the industrial action.

An estimated 180,000 visa applicants currently doing an x-ray only to meet the health criteria will soon be required to complete a medical examination as well, under the department of immigration’s new health standards. In addition, 30,000 children under 11 years, will be required to be screened for TB.

The new health requirements announced by the DIBP last Friday, mainly affects temporary visa applicants and will come into effect on 20 November 2015. It is expected to slow down visa processing times - particularly those of sc457 applications from selected countries who will be required to undergo more thorough health checks.

DIBP announced that a new health matrix will be introduced whereby there will only be two risk levels with health examinations: required or not.

Under the new system, visa applicants from over 100 countries considered ‘safe’ will generally not be required to undergo health checks for stays in Australia of six months or less. DIBP estimates that 40,000 applicants per year will not be expected to undergo medical examinations.

However, the nationals from several countries including Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Singapore and South Africa are among those not on the ‘safe list’.

The new Health Policy Advice Manual (PAM) will be released on 20 November 2015 and will be available on LEGENDcom. This will contain policy details of the changes. Enquiries, including questions related to operational arrangements, can be made to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Calls from the likes of  Nationals MP Andrew Fraser to close Australian borders to refugees have been rejected by immigration minister Peter Dutton, who has however warned that tougher security checks will be in place and result in lengthy delays to the processing of refugees.

On Friday, at least 7 Islamist terrorists carried out co-ordinated attacks across Paris which claimed 129 lives and injured at least 400 more. It has been reported that a Syrian passport used by the holder to enter Greece as a refugee, was found near the body of one of the Paris suicide bombers, raising concerns that terrorist cells are lurking among the migrants now flooding into Europe. 

Australian diplomats in the middle-east have been instructed to tighten checks on applicants seeking to enter Australia as terrorist cells may be lurking among those claiming refuge in Australia.

Immigration minister says the attacks on Paris over the weekend has necessarily required stricter checks on refugees as there are false documents and passports circulating in refugee camps.

"We are not going to rush this process," Mr Dutton told the Seven Network on Monday. "If it means that the timeline is blown out ... that will be a consequence of it. We need to make sure we know who is coming to our country," he said

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