Migration Alliance is pleased to have partnered with Australian Construction Training Services.

Australian Construction Training Services (ACTS) is endorsed by Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) as a TRA Approved Registered Training Organisation (RTO), for both the Offshore Skills Assessment Program (OSAP) and the 457 Skills Assessment Program.

Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) is the Australian Goverment Organisation that is responsible for the Skills Assessment of offshore applicants, for the purposes of Migration. TRA are part of the Department of Industry. 

ACTS provides authorised assessment services for Migration in the following areas:

•     Offshore Skills Assessment Programme
•     457 Skills Assessment Programme

As a Registered Training Organsiation, ACTS and its consortia member Engineering Training Australia (ETA) conduct assessments in accordance with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) for applicants seeking to have their skills and knowledge assessed towards an Australian trade qualification.

ACTS services are customer focused and are designed to bring out the best in their clients.   Migration Alliance recommends that Registered Migration Agents seek to assist suitable clients with their migration to Australia by referring them to ACTS who can guide the visa applicant (client) through the process of the Technical and Practical assessment methods.

Recent Parliamentary documents suggests that there remains a concerning trend showing an increasing gap between 457 Visa application lodgements and actual job vacancies and unemployment in Australia.

The trend has had analysts suggesting that employers are seeking the services of overseas workers in place of Australian workers.

Most subclass 457 visa holders originate from the United Kingdom, India, Ireland, the Philippines and the United States of America.

“The subclass 457 program is designed to respond rapidly to temporary economic and employer needs” says the report but adds that it may benefit further from a consistent, planned and measured approach to monitoring and reform. Closer scrutiny of other temporary programs may also be worth consideration by the Parliament.

The stage is once again set for the ‘Big Australia’ debate with the latest population projections figures for Australia revealing that Australia needs a net migration intake of 240,000 people per year to maintain its economy and living standards.

The projections are released once in five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). It last suggested in 2008, a net migration intake of 180,000 per year. That figure sparked the ‘Big Australia’ debate.

The ABS latest projections which are based on the 2011 population census now project a net migration intake of 240,000 indicating that big Australia needs to get bigger to survive.

Richard Marles, the opposition immigration spokesman in an interview with The Australian noted, “The ageing population is going to see the size of the labour force plateau and within decades that will start to shrink.” 

Fair work ombudsman acts on some 600 fast food outlets after receiving complaints of underpayment to foreign employees.

Yummy Noodle Box Franchise is among 600 fast food outlets that have been alleged to have underpaid overseas workers on temporary work visas including the 457 visa.

The Fair Word Ombudsman alleges that the Chinese noodle franchise failed to pay workers on 457 visas close to $650,000 over the last three years, in court documents.

Sydney Morning Herald has reported that six Chinese cooks and kitchen supervisors employed at Yummy Noodle Box takeaway shops in Dubbo, Orange, Bathurst as well as Bundaberg, Queensland, between July 2010 and March last year are collectively owed $642,311.

The Queensland Plan aims to have 50 per cent of the state’s population live outside the southeast corner by 2034.

The Courier-Mail has revealed that the Newman and Abbott governments have begun initial discussions about developing a quota system aimed at funnelling new arrivals into cities such as Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton to promote growth.

Queensland’s Premier, Mr Campbell Newman says there is a growing need to alleviate the population pressure in the popular southeast corridor.