Australian Immigration Daily News

A person is included in a class of persons authorised by the Minister to be officers for the purposes of the Act if the person is:
(a) engaged by the Department as a contractor or consultant to perform services or duties for the Department requiring the person to access movement records; or
(b) engaged or employed by a person to whom paragraph (a) applies, to perform services or duties for the Department requiring the person to access movement records.

Source: ADMIN23082.pdf

Terms of reference

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration will inquire into and report on Australia’s migration system, with reference to:

1. The role of permanent migration in nation building, cultural diversity, and social cohesion;

2. Immigration as a strategic enabler of vibrant economies and socially sustainable communities in our cities and regional hubs;

3. Attraction and retention strategies for working migrants to Australia;

4. Policy settings to strengthen skilled migrant pathways to permanent residency;

5. Strengthening labour market participation and the economic and social contribution of migrants, including family and humanitarian migrants and the partners of working migrants;

6. The role of settlement services and vocational training in utilising migrant experiences, knowledge, and opportunities; and

7. Other related matters that may assist the inquiry

Source: MIA-Migration-Pathways-to-Nation-Building.pdf

Migration Queensland opened its state nominated skilled migration program for the 2023–24 program year yesterday, Tuesday 5 September. 

Each State and Territory received a significantly reduced allocation of skilled visa nominations from the Department of Home Affairs for this program year.  As such, we anticipate a very competitive process for applicants to be nominated by Migration Queensland.

Migration Queensland will begin inviting selected applicants from the end of this month, and hold invitation rounds at the end of each month – ensuring an evenly spread workload throughout the program year. 

LIN 23/061

The purpose of the instrument is to amend LIN 22/046 to gradually close the COVID-19 pandemic event 408 visa to new applications from 2 September 2023. This is designed to encourage individuals to apply for a more appropriate visa to meet their individual circumstances.

The COVID-19 pandemic event 408 visa (Pandemic event visa) was introduced in April 2020 to enable temporary migrants to lawfully remain in Australia while the border was closed. It also addressed labour shortages in critical sectors in the local economy. Now that Australia’s borders are open and temporary visa holder numbers in Australia have returned to pre-COVID-19 levels, the Pandemic event visa is no longer required.

Closure of the Pandemic event visa will contribute to a well-managed migration system that better regulates visa pathways and normalises the flow of temporary migrants in and out of Australia. It will help to ensure that people are applying for the right visa that matches the reason for their travel and stay in Australia.

Closure of the Pandemic event visa also bolsters the integrity of Australia’s visa system. Along with employers who seek to utilise the visa to avoid sponsorship obligations, an increasing number of potential migrants have been coming to Australia with the intent of applying for the Pandemic event visa as soon as possible. This is most prevalent in the English language education sector, where international students were withdrawing from courses upon arrival.

Source: LIN23061.pdf and LIN23061-Explanatory-Statement.pdf