Australian Immigration Daily News

The information below has been provided by the Family Visas Branch within the Department of Home Affairs.

The Migration (Arrangements for Resident Return visa applications) Instrument LIN 23/014 came into effect on 4 March 2023 and is available at: Migration (Arrangements for Resident Return visa applications) Amendment Instrument (LIN 23/014) 2023 (legislation.gov.au) 

You will notice the instrument says ‘No longer in force’. This is because LIN 23/014 has amended LIN 22/019 (any instrument created to amend another automatically repeals on the day after commencement date: Division 1 of Part 1, Chapter 3 of Legislation Act 2003 – see section 48A).  The repeal doesn’t affect any amendments made by LIN 23/014 and it has taken effect with the new address being enforceable. 

Quotes Attributable to Federal Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus:

In 2013 the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Slavery, Slavery-like Conditions and People Trafficking) Act 2013 inserted new offences of forced marriage and harbouring a victim, and the standalone offences of forced labour and organ trafficking into the Criminal Code. The legislation also amended existing definitions to capture a range of slavery-like exploitative practices and forms of coercion.

These new laws made clear there is no place for modern slavery in Australia and empowered law enforcement agencies to disrupt, investigate and prosecute these crimes. A decade on from becoming a criminal offence in Australia forced marriage is now the most reported slavery-like offence to the Australian Federal Police.

Source: Marking-new-modern-slavery-offences---10-years-on.pdf

The purpose of this instrument is to update LIN 22/019 to reflect changes to the approved form, place and manner for making an application for a Special Eligibility (Class CB) visa application. Specifically, the instrument amends the address to which an application for a Special Eligibility (Class CB) visa must be sent.

Source: LIN23014.pdf and LIN23014-Explanatory-Statement.pdf

The below information and OSAP---Website-Factsheet.pdf has been provided by the Trades and Recognition Section within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations for your information. 

Following consultation with assessors across Trades Recognition Australia (TRA), stakeholders including TRA-approved Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and automotive industry representatives, TRA will be initiating changes to its OSAP and Migration Skills Assessment (MSA) programs.

Removal of OSAP countries of passport

The leading change will be to remove countries of passport for automotive occupations from the OSAP program where those countries do not correspond with countries of passport for those occupations listed under the TSS program.  This change was agreed to following engagement with automotive industry representatives regarding skills assessments and countries that have similar qualification standards to Australia, together with TRAs desire for consistency. 

Under the Temporary Graduate Work visa (subclass 485), the post-study ‘stay and work’ period for eligible graduates of listed qualifications will increase, as follows:

• Four years for Bachelor degree graduates, up from two years previously.

• Five years for Master degree graduates, up from three years previously.

• Six years for PhD graduates, up from four years previously.

Source: Post-study-work-rights-extension---qualifications-announced.pdf