DIBP announced on September 25, 2014 that an arrangement for youth mobility was signed between Australia and Portugal, establishing a reciprocal Work and Holiday Visa (subclass 462) arrangement between Australia and Portugal.
According to DIBP, this would allow 200 young adults from Portugal and another 200 young adults from Australia to be able to travel to each other's country where they may study or do short term work.
The visa won't be in effect until both countries would come to an agreement with regards to the start date. Expect an announcement and the visa to be in effect in a few months after they have implemented the necessary processes. When a start date has been announced, eligible young adults from both countries will be able to apply for the visa.
For more information, click Australia and Portugal sign a new Work and Holiday visa arrangement
June 2, 2014, DIBP closed new application for Non-Contributory and Other Family Visas. People were disappointed and saddened about the news and there were no new categories to replace the closed visas.
But as of yesterday, September 25, 2014, DIBP re-opened the following visas to new applications:
As stated in DIBP's website, they are only accepting new applications from September 25, 2014 onwards. If you have filed an application in between June 2, 2014 and September 25, 2014, it would be considered as invalid and cannot be accepted. The application will need to be re-lodged.
For more information, see Re-opening of the Non-Contributory Parent and Other Family visas.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection published their review of the Subclass 457 Programme recently this September 2014 and it contains the results of the review that the department has done to the integrity of the said programme. The program has allowed overseas workers to work in Australia for 18 years and has filled up a lot of needed positions in various industries, helping Australia to cater its needs of various skills.
But, according to ABC Rural, the recent review and the Immigration Department has been questioned by the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and says that the Immigration Department is "virtually impossible to deal with on the issue". Michael Catchpole, CEO of AusIMM says that the list of jobs that can be applied for the 457 does not reflect the radical change that the industry has undergone in the last few years.
"The 457 Programme is always been intended as a short term skills shortage measure and we don't believe that inclusion of any minerals profession, whether they be mining engineer, metallurgical o or materials engineers, or indeed geologists, should be included on the current 457 list." - Michael Catchpole, CEO of AusIMM
Michael Catchpole says that the unemployment amongst geologists are 15 percent and above nationally. And mining engineers, and metallurgical and chemical engineers are closing in on 10 percent. He says that with the high unemployment rate of Australian mineral professions, they shouldn't be included in the 457 list.
With that said, according to ABC Rural, the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) argues that the said professions should still be included in the list and questions the number of unemployed engineers and geologists claimed by AusIMM.
"That looks at the medium term, and we simply don't know enough about what we will happen in five years' time, so we cannot remove them from the list.
It's very hard to bring it back on to the list and it's an option to bring in skilled engineers as needed.
And it's not all engineers or geoscientists out of work. The AusIMM released a report with those figures and remember they apply to their members." - Dr. Gavin Lind, Director of Training and Education at MCA
According to ABC Rural, Dr Gavin Lind says that the 457 list take into account the medium-term requirement, not short-term fluctuations in the jobless rate.
DIBP released their 2nd Quarterly Report on the 30th of June 2014. It basically includes different kinds of statistics of the Subclass 457 visa. It's a 58 page PDF file that they have linked in their website for the public. You can click here to view it.
We have extracted the "Number of primary applications granted in 2013-14 to 30 June 2014 by nominated position location" to give you an idea on the number of applications each location has been granted with.
| Nominated Position Location | 2012-13
to 30/06/13 |
2013-14 to
30/06/14 |
% Change from
2012-13 |
2013-14 as
% of Total |
| Australian Capital Territory | 940 | 840 | -10.4% | 1.6% |
| New South Wales | 24 160 | 19 690 | -18.5% | 37.9% |
| Northern Territory | 910 | 1 030 | 12.9% | 2.0% |
| Queensland | 10 950 | 7 550 | -31.0% | 14.5% |
| South Australia | 2 030 | 1 660 | -18.1% | 3.2% |
| Tasmania | 370 | 260 | -29.2% | 0.5% |
| Victoria | 14 390 | 12 260 | -14.8% | 23.6% |
| Western Australia | 14 660 | 8 610 | -41.3% | 16.6% |
| Not Recorded | 80 | 40 | -51.2% | 0.1% |
| Total | 68 480 | 51 940 | -24.2% | 100.0% |
Looking at the 2013-14 to 30/06/14 column, as of June 30, 2014, New South Wales have the largest number of applications granted. Even if we compare it to last year's statistic, they still have the most number. Victoria comes in at second with 12,260.
DIBP will also release another Quarterly Report for the 3rd quarter that is ending on September 30, 2014.
If you want to view the complete statistics and the PDF, visit: Subclass 457 quarterly report quarter ending at 30 June 2014
For more information regarding the 457 statistics, visit: Subclass 457 – Temporary Work (Skilled) visa statistics
According to Migration Alliance, Australia and Spain are set to sign an agreement regarding the working holiday visa program. This agreement will have each country to allow people that are in the age of 18 to 31, to be able to live, work, and study for 1 year in each other's countries. Migration Alliance also stated that "Under the Australian-Spanish deal, the visa holders are expected to be able to work full time as long as they don't clock up more than six months with a single employer. They can also study for up to four months in the same course."
The applicant must meet the following conditions to be able to apply:
• The visa is not renewable; and applicants must,
• Arrive with A$5,000 (around €3,500).
• Demonstrate "functional" English; and
• Have completed at least two years of a tertiary qualification.
Australia already has a number of partner countries that participate in the Working Holiday Maker program:
Countries with Working Holiday visa arrangements:
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Countries with Work and Holiday visa arrangements:
For more information on Spain and Australia agreement, visit: New country to be added to Australian working holiday visa program
For more information on the Working Holiday Visa Program, visit: Working Holiday
Queensland Government Business and Industry is celebrating small businesses that are helping the Queensland economy by holding the 2014 Queensland Small Business Week from September 1 – 6. Events like workshops, networking activities, webinars, mentoring sessions, and forums are in store, so get ready to build and grow your business by learning, making connections, expanding your network, finding solutions to problems, and a lot more.
Queensland Government states that there were 4,500 business people attended last year and there were 91 activities and events that happened across the state.
2013 Queensland Small Business Week Statistics:
So if you have a growing a business, small business, or even planning on putting up a business, this is an event you wouldn’t want to miss.
For more information on the 2014 Queensland Small Business Week, visit:
DIBP updated their list of countries and territories that are eligible for the electronic lodgement of Subclass 600 (Visitor) Visa. As of August 1, 2014, passport holders of the following countries and territories are eligible to apply for a Visitor Visa (subclass 600):
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*Must not purport to be an official or diplomatic passport.
For information regarding the Subclass 600 (Visitor) Visa, visit Visitor e600 visa online applications
Aside from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) and Occupational English Test (OET), DIBP will accept English Language test scores from the “The Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test (TOEFL iBT)” and the “Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE Academic)” starting November 2014. DIBP will also accept scores from the “Cambridge English: Advanced (CAE)” test from early 2015.
Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa (Subclass 457) is not included in the list of visas that can take advantage of the test scores from the alternative English Language tests as the 457 visa programme is undergoing an independent review, DIBP says. Any updates regarding the alternative English test scores for the 457 visas will be posted in DIBP’s website later this year.
The following is the list of visa applications that can accept test scores from TOEFL iBT and PTE Academic tests. DIBP released this in their website:
The following visa subclasses from the Temporary Graduate, Skilled, Former Resident and Work and Holiday visa programmes will accept a TOEFL iBT or PTE Academic test score as evidence of English ability from November 2014:
*Closed to new applications, but family members can apply
For more information regarding the alternative English tests, visit Alternative English Language tests for visa applicants
Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) are discontinuing Non-Contributory Parent and other Family Visas.
According to DIBP, reunion of family members should be the focus of family migration, thus giving the partners, children, and contributory parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents, priority for Family Stream.
The following visas are closed as of June 2, 2014:
According to DIBP, applications made before June 2, 2014 will still be processed normally under existing regulations and policy.
For more information, see “Non-Contributory Parent and Other Family visas have closed to new applications”