Australian Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, has unveiled a new skills list of desired occupations in the country’s skilled migration programme. The list, which previously listed 400 professions and occupations as qualifying under the skilled migration programme, has been pared down to just 181 occupations.
Journalists, cooks and hairdressers are among the professions that are no longer listed and Senator Evans said that the new list was part of an ongoing attempt by the government to decouple the link between education and immigration. “Australia’s migration programme cannot be determined by the courses studied by international students,” he said.
Industry figures have predicted that the new list will cause a massive drop in international student enrolments in the immediate future. Tony Pollock, Chief Executive of IDP, told The Australian newspaper, “The government’s desire to clean up the industry is entirely admirable, but they have made the changes so abrupt that there is little time for the kind of structural adjustment that is necessary in any big change of this nature, both for the students and the institutions.”
Hundreds of international students, many of whom have been studying on vocational courses around Australia with the expectation of being able to apply for residency, have taken to the streets in demonstrations to protest at the changes. Many have already paid out large tuition and accommodation fees while studying on courses that will no longer provide them with the qualifications needed to apply for skilled migration.
Andrew Smith, Chief Executive of Acpet, said that international students already in the country should be allowed to stay under previous permanent residency arrangements. “One of the key things that is hurting Australia’s reputation overseas at the moment and causing students to look to other countries for their education is the uncertainty and continual change in immigration policy, where we’re not meeting the promises we made,” he added.
Of the 41,000 general skilled visas granted in 2007-8, more than 5,000 went to cooks and hairdressers, three quarters of whom had studied in Australia.
UK college approved to deliver foundation diploma
Cambridge School of Visual & Performing Arts (CSVPA) in the UK has been approved to deliver the Foundation Diploma in Art and Design from September 2010. The school is the first private college in the UK to be accredited by the University of the Arts London Awarding Body to deliver the diploma in art and design and the first college in the world to offer a Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada) associated drama foundation programme to students.
Chris Maughan, Head of CSVPA, said, “We have an enviable track record of progressing international and UK students to some of the best HE arts colleges in the world. In 2009 alone, 40 per cent of our art and design foundation students accepted offers from one of the six University of the Arts London Colleges, which include Central Saint Martins, London College of Fashion and Chelsea College of Art and Design. It is therefore a real accomplishment to be approved by UAL Awarding Body.”
