Under the proposed changes to Australian citizenship laws, children of illegal migrants could become stateless, National Children’s Commissioner Megan Mitchell has told The Australian.

Currently, children born in Australia are automatically entitled to Australian citizenship on their 10th birthday if they have lived here for all 10 years — even if their parents arrived or lived in Australia illegally. But under planned changes to the Citizenship Act, children will lose the right to citizenship if their parents were “unlawful non-citizens’’ at the time of birth. Children will also miss out on citizenship if they were “unlawful non-citizens’’ at any time before their 10th birthday, or if they left Australia during that time without a return visa.

“Through no fault of their own, they would find themselves growing up in Australia but potentially not being able to stay in Australia, even though they don’t know anywhere else, and their friends and schooling are here,’’ Ms Mitchell told The Australian yesterday.

Megan Mitchell is Australia’s first dedicated National Children’s Commissioner. The National Children's Commissioner’s office was setup in 2013 to protect children’s rights by promoting public discussion and awareness of issues affecting children, conducting research and education programs and consulting directly with children and representative organisations. The role also examines relevant existing and proposed Commonwealth legislation to determine if they recognise and protect children's human rights in Australia.

The Coalition Government says that changes are designed to stop asylum seekers and illegal immigrants using children as ­“anchors’’ to gain citizenship and sponsor other family members to live in Australia.

But Ms Mitchell warned the legislative amendments would punish children for their parents’ actions.

A Melbourne business operator has been fined more than $228,000 after admitting she underpaid a vulnerable migrant employee because she thinks Australia’s minimum pay rates are “just crazy”. The Federal Circuit Court has imposed a penalty of $35,496 against businesswoman Na Xu after she admitted responsibility for underpaying the employee $19,567 over a period of just eight months. 

Xu’s travel services company Grandcity (GW) Travel & Tour Pty Ltd, which operates the Grandcity Tours travel agency at Glen Waverley, was fined a further $192,840. The penalties are the result of an investigation and legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

An FWO report said, its inspectors discovered the underpayment after receiving a request for assistance from a 24-year-old migrant from China.

The employee, who spoke limited English, was paid flat hourly rates of between $9 and $11 to work a casual travel consultant between January and September, 2013.

Under the General Retail Industry Award, the employee should have been paid more than $21 for normal hours, plus penalty rates for weekend and public holiday work. She was paid less than half of her total entitlements.   

Some of them have been living here for over 20 years, according to a report in The Australian. The nationalities of these overstayers may surprise you.

The department of immigration estimates that some 62,100 people were unaccounted for in Australia during 2014, which is roughly 1.2 per cent of the 5.5 million people who enter the country each year on temporary visas.

People from China, Malaysia and the United States were the highest number of visa overstayers in Australia in 2013, with the Chinese topping the list at 7690.

According to an Immigration Department report, Migration Trends 2012-2013, visitors (44,800) and students (10,720) were the largest cohort of visa holders to overstay their visit. The highest number of visa overstayers in 2013 by nationality came from China (7690), Malaysia (6420), the US (5220) and the UK (3780).

An Immigration spokesman told The Australian that people found with expired visas could be detained and removed if located by the department in the community. Unlawful non-citizens also face a three year re-entry ban.

The new financial year has seen the reopening of the significant investor visa programme but with a new list of eligible investments for foreigners to consider. The tough part with this list is that it may not sit well with what some analyst describe as conservative investors seeking a safe haven to park their funds while waiting on their visa decision.

In an attempt to stop the flow of funds into the Australian property market, the government’s new rules are forcing funds away from government bonds and the property market into high risk investments.

No less than $1.5 million will have to be invested in managed funds or listed investment companies that invest in ASX-listed emerging companies. Part of this requirement is that the managed fund must dedicate at least 80 per cent of its assets to firms with a market capitalisation of less than $500 million.

Of the remainder, at least $500,000 will have to be put in eligible Australian venture capital or private equity funds which invest in start-up and small private companies

And what's left over – up to $3 million – can be invested in a combination of assets, including ASX listed companies, eligible Australian corporate bonds or notes, annuities and real property in Australia. The last is subject to a $300,000 limit on residential housing.

Dentists and dental specialists, together with urban and regional planners have been removed from the updated Skilled Occupation List while panelbeaters and cabinet makers have been added.

The occupational ceilings for other jobs including barristers and solicitors, accountants, occupational health and safety, medical laboratory scientists and petroleum engineers are expected to be scaled back and may potentially close along with several other jobs in the next review.

The SOL was updated based on the findings of a review of Australia’s labour market and education and migration data by the Department of Industry and Science. The review considered submissions by industry, unions, trade and professional organisations.

“Cabinet makers and panelbeaters make a valuable contribution to the Australian economy. Migrants with these skills will enhance the size and skill of the Australian workforce,” Minister Michaelia Cash said in a joint press release with Assistant Education Minister Simon Birmingham.

Minister Cash said the new occupations on the SOL reflect that there is a gap between the skills of Australians and the work that needs to be done.