In the last couple of months, we have seen that some judges of the Federal Circuit Court have differing views concerning how the criteria for the grant of a student visa should be applied.

In late July, Judge Manousardis held, in Khanna & Ors v Minister for Immigration & Anor, (2015) FCCA 1971 (20 July 2015) that having a desire to settle in Australia on a long term basis if an appropriate visa pathway become available is not inconsistent with having a genuine intention to stay in Australia only temporarily (if the applicant is not ultimately successful in obtaining a visa to remain in Australia at the end of the student visa period).

Indeed, in my post about the Khanna case, I commented that Judge Manousardis’s interpretation is consistent with what I believe is a very widely-held perception of the student visa program, namely that there are many tens of thousands (if not more!) people who originally came to Australia as students, and who then decided to stay here to work and live after they were able to gain further visas either of a temporary or permanent kind.  And indeed I would suspect that if most student visa holders were asked about their “subjective intentions”, they would say that they would like to stay in Australia after their studies are completed if there is a viable pathway for them to do so.  Furthermore, the very structure of Australia’s visa system certainly seems to contemplate that people who come here as students may be allowed to remain, with the “Temporary Graduate” visa (subclass 485) being a prime example!

Interestingly the online newspaper 'The Ethics Daily' has picked up Migration Alliance's story about OMARAs random audit emails.  It would appear that if an Online Ethics Paper is running a story on OMARA's 'random audit' emails then there may be a problem.  

Now, with respect to the overall security of the Qualtrics surveys that OMARA uses, it would appear that anyone with access to the nominated email address or who has been forwarded the email by the RMA, could complete the survey for and on behalf of the RMA.  We have tested it and found that there is no mechanism for an RMA to actually “prove” their identity prior to completion of the survey.  A 12 year old child could complete the survey if their parent left the email open and the RMA would be none the wiser.

Just as an RMA needs to log into the OMARA website to complete certain formal processes, so should they have to log into the website and have their ID captured and verified properly before they complete a survey, where the information is gathered and could later 'incriminate' them and lead to S308 and S309 notices. 

I have written to the OMARA on more than one occasion about this glitch, and suggested that a solution to this problem would be that the OMARA ask agents to log in before completing the survey, and that access to the survey can only be obtained after login. 

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The government’s response to the 7-Eleven pay scandal has been slammed as appalling by both Lawyers and the independent panel head reviewing the matter, Professor Allan Fells. The department of immigration simply expects students forced to breach visa conditions and suffer underpayment of wages to come forward and trust that the department will do the right thing.

Immigration minister Peter Dutton has worked out that the despite evidence of systematic abuse of foreign workers who now fear speaking out against underpayment and being trapped in what has been described as an ‘indentured labour scheme’ for years, that there is no need for a blanket reprieve.

The minister announced that leniency could be granted on a case-by-case basis.

This move effectively lets 7-Eleven profit from the abuse as victims of the abuse are unlikely to come forward to claim full payment.

The government's partial reprieve comes after law firm Maurice Blackburn and Labor leader Bill Shorten wrote to Malcolm Turnbull urging him to grant a widespread amnesty to workers exploited by 7-Eleven franchisees, as one of his first acts as Prime Minister, according to report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

As the housing boom in most Australian states continue, the demand for tradesmen is at a ‘crisis’ level – particularly the demand for bricklayers. This has had builders calling for easier and quicker access to tradesmen under the sc457 program - according to a report in the Australian Financial Review.

Three years ago, bricklaying cost was about $900 per 1000 bricks. Now it has topped $1500 and heading towards $2000, due to a severe shortage of bricklayers, particularly in Sydney.

Some 80 representatives of the housing and building industries gathered at Rooty Hill RSL in Sydney's west last week to discuss the issue shortage of bricklayers and called for easier access to sc457 workers.

"It's great to have the building boom, but you need to build the houses", Nathan Thurston, the marketing manager of leading NSW home builder, McDonald Jones Homes told the AFR. "You need the arms and the legs to get people into their homes sooner."

Brickworks managing director, Lindsay Partridge, said that the Austral Bricks order book was "extremely strong."