On September 23, the Australian reported that Australian tertiary education providers had a record high of overseas student enrolments. This is despite all the negative global publicity over the treatment of foreign students.

Months after shrugging off predictions that the Australian industry would suffer adverse effects from the global financial crisis, overseas student enrolments numbered 547,663 in July, up from the previous record of 543,898 last December.

The record enrolments represent a more than 20 per cent increase on this time last year, driven by continued strong growth in vocational education’s key Asian markets, and backed by stronger growth in university enrolments.

There are many ethical education providers in Australia that look after International Students and provide accurate information to students to assist with obtaining residency in Australia after the completion of their studies. AMVL partners with a number of educational institutions in Queensland to ensure that international students, once in Australia, are properly informed about their options to obtain Temporary and Permanent Residency following completion of their studies.

“Educational Institutions who look after their students, who deliver the correct courses, provide their students with the appropriate documentation on completion and who take an interest in informing their students, will only benefit as a result of a happier student group as well as increased enrolments. It is all about word of mouth”.

AMVL’s role is to be an information source for the students as they plan their future in Australia. We provide students with clarity in relation to the potential pathways to Temporary and Permanent Residency as well as helping to dispel some of those ‘rumours’/falsehoods that regularly circulate.

Contact our friendly student team for a Free Initial consultation to discuss the options available to you.

Skilled Workers Still Needed in Australia

According to Industry Experts, skilled workers are still in high demand in Australia with bosses struggling to find top-quality candidates.

The number of skilled applicants is at record lows despite 30,800 full-time jobs being axed in August, pushing the overall number of unemployed Australians to 663,600.

Hudson recruitment’s Scott Stacey said it was a myth that the skills shortage ended with the global financial crisis and that employers were now awash with good talent.

“The reality is it’s still tougher than ever,” he said.

Mr Stacey said the problem was due to skilled candidates staying in their jobs and not venturing out to seek other opportunities like they were before the global financial crisis.

“People are also too nervous to leave their jobs to improve their skills, so talent is becoming stagnant,” he said.

 “It’s certainly an employer's market but when this turns around bosses could be faced with an even worse situation in regards to finding skilled candidates.”

The market is forecasting that the official unemployment rate will rise from 5.8 per cent to 6 per cent this Thursday, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its Labour Force figures.

However, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans believes that the jobless rate will only reach 5.9 per cent with 5000 jobs lost from the economy.

View full article http://www.news.com.au/

With DIAC’s most recent update on the Processing Priorities, announced on 23 September 2009, the biggest misconception about Australia at present is that migrants are not wanted and visas are not being granted. The truth of the matter is that the doors to Australia have remained open and migrants are still needed.

The new processing arrangements give priority to people seeking to migrate to Australia who have skills or qualifications in one of the occupations on the current Critical Skills List (CSL). The Australian Federal Government is making changes to the migration program in an effort to be responsive to the needs of the Australian economy.

In a time when many economies have failed, Australia’s has proved relatively resilient when compared to the rest of the industrialised world, so we hope this can only mean a brighter future in Australia for all, including new Australians.

Recent weeks have seen some positive news from Australia. Advertised jobs statistics are up, we experienced growth in the last quarter and unemployment is holding steady under 6%.

Australia's population increased by 2.1% for the year ending March 2009 according to statistics released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the 22nd of September 2009. These rates compare with a 1.2% growth rate recorded five years ago.

As at 31 March 2009, Australia's population had grown to 21,779,000, an increase of 439,100 people over the previous year. Australia's net overseas migration contributed to more than half of this growth at 63% or 278,200 people

From a visa perspective over 108,000 skilled migrants are wanted in the current visa year. States such as WA require tradespeople, health professionals are required nationwide and engineering and a variety of other professional occupations are in demand in many of the states. Each state has a list of 'wanted' people and this is a clear indication of the state of play in that state. Email us for copies of the state lists.

For full ABS Media Release.