Australian Government takes action on agents

October 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith on Wednesday announced the establishment of the Australia India Science and Technology Research Award. This new award recognises excellence in science and engineering and will be targeted at early career Australian and Indian researchers.

October 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - India and Australia, in their first meeting of the joint working group on student mobility, have agreed to tackle unscrupulous education agents and check institutes offering poor quality of education. A press release of the Australian high commission here Friday said that both countries have agreed on a number of concrete measures to enhance the interests and welfare of Indian students in Australia.

October 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Australian and Indian Governments have stepped up their joint efforts to address issues affecting the 100,000 Indian students in Australia. The Joint Working Group (JWG) on Student Mobility met for the first time on 6 October, agreeing on a number of concrete measures to enhance the interests and welfare of Indian students.

September 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI/MELBOURNE - Strengthening of student visa checks to stamp out fraud, upgrading interviews and restricting online access to Australia's eVisa system to fewer agents are some of the measures introduced by the Australian government to reinforce the country's standing as a high quality education destination. Submitting fraudulent documents or making fraudulent claims in applications by agents on behalf of their student clients is simply unacceptable.

August 19th, 2009 CANBERRA - The Australian Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, today warned education providers that they risk being shut down if they don't comply with rules relating to international students. Gillard was speaking in the Australian Parliament at the introduction of an Amendment Bill to the Education Services for Overseas Students (ESOS) Act 2000.

August 9th, 2009 MELBOURNE - External Affairs Minister SM Krishna on Sunday visited Sunshine train station in Melbourne, where several Indian students were targeted by mobs a couple of months ago. Krishna was briefed by a senior police officer about the extra security measurements taken at the station.

August 6th, 2009 SYDNEY - External Affairs minister S.M.Krishna on Thursday conveyed New Delhi's concerns to Australian authorities over the recent attacks on Indian students. Krishna received assurance of a firm action against all perpetrators of attacks on Indian students during his meet with New South Wales (NSW) Premier Nathan Rees.

July 27th, 2009 MELBOURNE - A young Indian origin TV journalist was threatened and attacked after she went underground to reveal migration and education scams in Australia. Many foreign students, mostly Indians have become victims of migration and education rackets in Australia.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Continuing a series of initiatives to ensure the safety and well-being of international students in Australia, the state government of Victoria has announced further action. Free legal advice will be provided to Indian and other international students.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Australian Government is working quickly to implement a series of high-level initiatives to improve the security of international students in Australia. Any death of a young student, however caused, is a tragedy and one death too many.

June 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The situation of Indian students in Australia was improving with constant monitoring by authorities in both countries, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said Tuesday while an official from the southern continent stressed that her government had a "zero tolerance policy on racism". Police is taking action one after another and things are under control; maybe there are stray incidents here and there, Ravi told reporters after his meeting with Lisa Paul, secretary in Australia's department of education, employment and workplace relations.

June 19th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Australia's Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans, today met representatives from the Indian community in Melbourne to listen directly to their views on the racial attacks involving Indian students. The Minister reassured the Indian community that the Australian Government welcomes students from India and values their decision in coming to Australia to further their studies.

June 6th, 2009 MELBOURNE - An organisation representing Indian students in Australia said Saturday it was "quite disturbed" over how some "anti-Indian Indians" here were holding the students responsible for the spate of alleged racist attacks on the student community. The Federation of Indian Students of Australia (FISA) has also lashed out at some of the Indian diaspora for supporting the administration and police's "inaction" over the attacks due to its own "selfish interest".

June 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Protesting against the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia, members of a 'Rashtrawadi Sena' burnt Australian flags in New Delhi. To represent that no action being taken against the perpetrators of the attacks, 'Rashtrawadi Sena' activists wore masks of Australian prime minister, home minister and foreign affairs minister and tied their hands.

June 1st, 2009 LONDON - Indian students at Oxford University Monday joined in the growing protests over racist attacks on their counterparts in Australia, saying they are baffled by the failure of Australian authorities to take stern measures. Indian students at the University of Oxford strongly deplore the violent attacks on students in Australia.