Australian Immigration Daily News

The Trades Recognition Service (TRS) will close on 1 December 2020 due to low demand and no new applications will be accepted from this date.  

TRA Skills assessments will continue to be available to people who have gained their skills outside a formal apprenticeship pathway through the Offshore Skills Assessment Program available in Australia and selected overseas locations.  

Australian citizens are not eligible to apply for skills assessments under any TRA Programs including TRS.  

DAMA Occupations list: The first annual review has been conducted for DAMA. Several new occupations have been added to the DAMA occupation list of South Australia. The new occupations will focus on the critical sectors such as health care, manufacturing, high-tech sectors, agribusiness and food production. Full DAMA list is available here.

Concessions and PR Pathways: There are additional English language and age concessions available for the applicants. Permanent visa is also eligible for the English language and age concessions. There has been changes to the work experience requirements, making it easy for the international graduates to meet the eligibility requirement. All DAMA occupations listed will now offer a permanent residency pathway either through the Temporary Skill Shortage visa or the Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa.  

Skills Assessing Authority: The South Australian Government has been approved to act as a skills assessing authority for occupations that require a skills assessment that currently has no alternative skills assessment authority. 

The following information has been released under Freedom of Information request from the Department of Home Affairs pertaining visa lodgements vs visa grants for the period of 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020.

Source: Department of Home Affairs, 2020 (DD-4046.01)
Note 1: Includes primary and secondary applicants.

The Immigration (Education) Amendment (Expanding Access to English Tuition) Bill 2020 (the Bill) amends the Immigration (Education) Act 1971 (the IE Act) to expand eligibility for migrants to access English tuition.

The changes made by the Bill will send a strong message regarding the support provided by the Government for migrants to learn Australia¡¦s national language, and the importance of English proficiency for social cohesion. The Bill will enable the Government to further incentivise English language learning, and provide greater flexibility for migrants in the way they undertake English studies. It will provide English tuition to bridge the gap for migrants who are currently ineligible for the program, or who have exhausted their available tuition hours without reaching the level of vocational English.

Specifically, the Bill amends the IE Act to:

• remove the 510 hour statutory limit on an eligible person¡¦s entitlement to English tuition, in order to support and incentivise English proficiency;
• amend the upper limit for eligibility to access English tuition to a new level of vocational English, which will enable eligible persons to continue their language learning to a higher level of English proficiency;
• remove the statutory time limits for registering for, commencing and completing English tuition for certain people who held a visa and were in Australia on or before 1 October 2020; and
• allow for the provision of English tuition to certain visa holders or visa applicants outside Australia, to support their English language learning in preparation for their migration to Australia.

Source: IE-Amendment-2020.pdf and IE-Amendment-2020-Explanatory-Memorandum.pdf