The Aid Industry and Humanitarian Organisations need to be mindful that the rest of the world does drift into "misery overload". There probably is an unprecedented number of catastrophes impacting populations that result in forced or necessary movements. This then results in increased "humanitarian need"  etc around the globe. In the past few years somme of the better know hotspots are: Syria, Ebola, Eritrea, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Vanuatu, Nepal and the list goes on.

Human Trafficking IS part of the problem as this also encourages ambit migration which then adds to the problems of forced migration. Human Trafficking feeds off ease of entry into desirable destinations. Human Trafficking is now the third biggest money spinning industry in the world.

Humanitarian agencies frequently talk about "compassion" as a general idea without providing any real ideas as to how the limited resources associated with "compassion" may be best used. In my opinion, AID associated with humanitarian catastrophe is best apportioned quite specifically at immediate need e.g. in camps, for NGOs to better alleviate immediate suffering as best as possible. This is probably as good as it gets. The host countries of Pakistan, Jordan, Chad etc DO receive assistance with such. It becomes a global issue to pressure nation states that create unnecessary movements of people to act in such a way that their populations don't deed to leave. This is MUCH easier said than done. To intervene or to not intervene seems to backfire irrespective of whatever the decision. Fragile balances may exist in areas of teetering dysfunction. 

As per the below announcement from Austrade, we now have confirmation of the new SIV investment regime effective 1 July, 2015. On initial review of the draft options and final frameworks documents (attached) the main differences are: 

-          the Venture Capital  has been reduced to $500k although may rise to $1M within 2 years. Have addressed the “uncalled capital” question by having the remainder of the committed funds held in escrow in a Cash Management Trust or Australian bank account as security for a bank guarantee in favour of the Venture Capital fund

-          Emerging companies still $1.5M although allowing up to 10% in foreign companies i.e. New Zealand (this may mean we have additional group product that meets the requirements)

By Michael Jeremy RMA

The Aid Industry and Humanitarian Organisations need to be mindful that the rest of the world does drift into "misery overload". There probably is an unprecedented number of catastrophes impacting populations that result in forced or necessary movements. This then results in increased "humanitarian need" etc around the globe.

In the past few years some of the better know hotspots are: Syria, Ebola, Eritrea, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Vanuatu, Nepal and the list goes on.

The following email is from the ACS:

The ACS is committed to providing a high level of service to Registered Migration Agents and recommends applicants consult migration agents to acquire a thorough understanding of the entire migration process and not just the skill assessment aspect.

In order to provide further assistance to agents, we have created a specific set of Frequently Asked Questions (attached) and a guide on using the ACS Agent Dashboard. 

Some investment analysts are saying that the changes to the SIV program which are set to be announced today could have a deterrent effect on the program with investors likely to shop elsewhere for their visa.

Details of the revamped Significant Investor Visa program are set to be released today, according to a report in The Australian. Under the changes, investors will be expected to invest about half of their funds in high-risk investments.

It is expected that at least $2.5 million of the $5million will have to go into investments in start-up and emerging companies, notes the report, as the new program wants to ‘divert the billions of dollars raised from the scheme away from ultra-safe investments such as government bonds and commercial property to more risky areas such as the start-up sector, which is cash-starved.”

“Foreign investors will need to invest at least half a million dollars, or 10 per cent of their total investment, in eligible Australian venture capital or growth private equity funds. Investors also need to set aside at least $1.5m for investing in ASX-listed small companies.”

The report states that there has been push-back from the property sector and some fund managers are expected to lose business as a result of the new change.