The head of the government-ordered ‘major research and scoping project into a quality framework for education agencies’ says that ‘the $16 billion international education industry is far more regulated than most’ and ‘Australia already has the mechanisms in place to ensure overall quality assurance in a highly regulated industry.’

Taking issue with ABCs Four Corners investigation, “Degrees of Deception” which revealed fraud by major education brokers in China, Phil Honeywood, executive director of the International Education Association of Australia has risen to the defence of education brokers asserting that the ABCs report and views of the ICAC are wrong and unbalanced.

“It is complete nonsense to suggest that such agents are unregulated.” Mr Honeywood wrote in an opinion piece published in The Australian, today.

“In China, for example, all education agents must be officially licensed and pay a bond to the government of two million renminbi ($420,000). If any Chinese student claims they received wrong or negligent advice from their agent, it is highly possible for that agent to lose both their licence and their bond.

“Equally, if any Australian university becomes aware of fraudulent practices by one of their agents, there are strong imperatives for them to cancel their agency agreement” states Mr Honeywood.

The article goes no further to say, why then these measures have not already been taken; why the government has ordered a major review of the education brokering industry; and why the fraud uncovered by ABCs hidden cameras in some of China’s biggest education brokers looked like routine practice.

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There have been at least 150 reports of a scam in which some AU$35,000 have been handed over to scammers by Indian and Pakistani nationals after they received phone and email threats that their immigration papers were out of order and that they were going to be deported unless they paid fines and fees to fix the problems, according to SCAMwatch, a division of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Migrants are being warned to be aware of calls from scammers claiming to be from the 'Department of Immigration' threatening them with deportation and demanding money.

The ACCC and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) have been getting reports of scammers claiming to be government officials. The scammers call migrants and temporary visa holders and threaten them with deportation supposedly because of problems with their immigration paperwork or visa status.

“Scammers are demanding up-front fees of around $1,000 to resubmit forms. These scam phone calls appear to be targeting people from India and Pakistan. The ACCC has received 150 reports of this scam since February with more than $35,000 reported lost,” according to the ACCC statement.

“Scammers may try to pressure you by calling repeatedly and harassing you, even threatening to send the police to your house – but if you give your money to a scammer you will never see it again,” warns the ACCC.

The DIBP has confirmed that it does not ask for any payment of fines or penalties by telephone.

Be on guard, if you receive a phone call from someone threatening you with deportation and asking you to pay a fee, hang up and do not respond. If in doubt, don’t use any contact details provided by the caller - look up the government department or organisation yourself in the phone book or online and phone or email them.

ABCs 4-Corners investigation this week reported that education agents in China are blatantly cheating the enrolment system and putting at risk Australia’s education industry. The report reveals an industry in “a sorry state: corruption, widespread plagiarism, cheating and exploitation.”

Every University the ICAC (the Independent Commission Against Corruption) had spoken to has said they have had problems with their brokers at one time or other in regard to false documentation for the purposes of enrolment, according to the report.

THE IRONY IS THAT THE UNIVERSITIES SEEM TO HAVE NO QUALMS  about continuing to use these unregulated brokers who are colluding with students to falsify documents for entry into Australia. The risk then is that these unregulated brokers are going to put applicants through to the university with fake qualifications, or who they know have cheated on tests, or who are trying to undertake some sort of visa fraud.

The ABC used hidden cameras in their investigation of some of the biggest education brokers that recruit for Australian universities in Beijing and found some were willing to accept forged documents; and others were advising students on how to avoid the tough English language requirements.

Among the named agencies were EduGlobal and Shinyway – which recruits on behalf of many Australia’s most prestigious universities.

Migration Alliance has been provided with the following information:

The Government has made changes to the Temporary Skilled (Subclass 457) visas.  These changes action the recommendations in the 457 Integrity Review.  Assistant Minister Cash announced the Government Response to the 457 Integrity Review on 18 March 2015.

The Government: