Australian Immigration Daily News

The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) is working with providers to minimise the impact COVID-19 has on both providers and students.

Coronavirus regulatory information for universities VET, ELICOS and higher education providers

DET to reduce administrative burden for higher education providers while they respond to the COVID‑19 situation, DET, Skills and Employment will be delaying a number of higher education activities, such as reports and data required from higher education providers.

Eligibility for the Australian Government Endorsed Events (AGEEs) activity type is based on the Minister listing major Australian events in a legislative instrument which was released in April 2020 this year. The instrument also includes the classes of persons eligible under this activity type. They must be invited by the event organiser.

This allows the Department to manage most, if not all, visa applications associated with an AGEE through a single visa pathway. The visa criteria are streamlined to take into account that the event and the activities associated with the event have already been assessed and approved by the Department. Visa applicants continue to be subject to genuine temporary entry requirements and other standard Subclass 480 criteria.  The GTE criterion has also been eased to include evidence that you will abide by your visa conditions and evidence that you do not intend to use this visa for longer than expected to prolong your stay in Australia.

The maximum stay for this visa is 12 months, however, there has been a number of setbacks with this visa including:

If you are an Australian citizen or a permanent resident you cannot leave Australia due to COVID-19 restrictions unless you have an exemption.

The Australian Borderforce moved to an online lodgement system where you can lodge your restriction by creating a secure account.  Unlike the previous system you will be able monitor the progress of your exemption.  The processing times have also improved to 24 to 48 hours. 

However you must meet at least one of the following:

At present occupations, the State and Territory Governments can approve for the SC 491/190 are strictly limited.

It would appear that the government will be focusing on critical sectors which are:

• people providing critical or specialist medical services, including air ambulance, medical evacuations and delivering critical medical supplies
• people with critical skills required to maintain the supply of essential goods and services (such as in medical technology, critical infrastructure, telecommunications, engineering and mining, supply chain logistics, agricultural technology, food production, and the maritime industry)
• people delivering services in sectors critical to Australia’s economic recovery (such as financial technology, large scale manufacturing, film and television production, and emerging technology), where no Australian worker is available

The Government of South Australia has been advised of a limited number of interim allocation places for the State’s General Skilled and Business Migration Program for 2020/21, which will be prioritised to support South Australia’s economic and public health recovery.

South Australian Immigration has relesed the following update:

The Government of South Australia has been advised of a limited number of interim allocation places for the State’s General Skilled and Business Migration Program for 2020/21, which will be prioritised to support South Australia’s economic and public health recovery.

The full nomination allocations for 2020/21 will be determined later in the year as part of the 2020/21 Budget process.