Community Update – Department of Home Affairs – Newsletter no. 13 – June 2024
Increase in the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold (TSMIT) to $73,150
From 1 July 2024, the TSMIT will increase from $70,000 to $73,150.
New nominations from this date will need to meet the new TSMIT of $73,150 or the annual market salary rate, whichever is higher.
This change will not affect existing visa holders and nominations lodged before 1 July 2024.
These changes are in line with the Government’s commitment at the Jobs and Skills Summit in September 2022.
Find out more –
Restricting onshore visa hopping to the Student visa program
The Government is focused on strengthening the integrity of the Student visa program. This will ensure we grant visas to genuine students and give students who receive qualifications in Australia opportunities to contribute to Australia’s economic growth.
As part of the release of the Migration Strategy the government announced changes to Student visa eligibility. These changes will restrict certain temporary visa holders from applying for a Student visa while in Australia.
Visa hopping has contributed to a growing cohort of ‘permanently temporary’ former international students living in Australia. These changes, combined with other measures, will help to close this loophole and put an end to this practice.
You can find the complete list of visa holders that will be unable to apply for a Student visa onshore here –
Restricting onshore visa hopping to the Student visa program (homeaffairs.gov.au
You can also find out more by reading Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security The Hon Clare O’Neil’s announcement here –
Ending ‘visa hopping’ in the migration system (homeaffairs.gov.au
Supporting Strong & Sustainable Regions – public submissions invited
As part of the
the government committed to ‘evaluate regional migration settings and the Working Holiday Maker program to ensure migration supports development objectives in regional Australia and does not contribute to the exploitation of migrant workers’.
The
Supporting Strong & Sustainable Regions Discussion Paper
proposes objectives for regional migration and suggests opportunities where regional migration could work better.
The government is seeking feedback from communities, businesses, unions, local governments, state and territory governments, education providers, and others – on how to improve regional migration settings to support strong and sustainable regions, while complementing existing government initiatives.
Feedback can be provided through the
submission form for the Review of the Regional Migration Settings before 5:00pm AEST on 26 July 2024.
Ministerial Direction 110 signed | Minister’s announcement
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs The Hon Andrew Giles MP has signed Ministerial Direction 110, a new, revised Direction to strengthen the consideration of community safety in Australia’s migration system.
Ministerial Direction 110 is guided by two key principles – the protection of the Australian community and common sense. This new revised Direction makes it clear that the Government expects the protection of the Australian community be given greater weight in visa decisions and that the safety of the Australian community is the Government’s highest priority.
You can read Minister’s media release in full here –Ministerial Direction 110 (homeaffairs.gov.au
2025 Australian of the Year Awards Nominations
Nominations are now open for the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards. If you know an amazing Aussie doing great things in their community let us know. To submit your nomination or learn more:
Home of the Australian of the Year Awards
The Department of Home Affairs partners with the
National Australia Day Council
and supports active citizenship by sponsoring the Local Hero category in the Australian of the Year Awards. The Local Hero Award acknowledges extraordinary contributions made by Australians in their local community. To learn how to be an active citizen here:
Active citizen (homeaffairs.gov.au
Act Now, Stay Secure
The Australian Government’s ‘Act Now, Stay Secure’ campaign is focused on building a baseline cyber security capability by demonstrating why managing personal cyber security is important and empowers individuals to protect themselves online.
The campaign will be run over 3 weeks, starting June 10 2024.
Week 1 – set up multi-factor authentication to your online accounts
Week 2 – Install software updates to keep your devices secure
Week 3 – Create strong, unique passwords.
For more information go to
Information in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean and Vietnamese is also available via the link above
Grant Opportunity: Cyber Awareness Support for Vulnerable Groups
The Australian Government is inviting applications to apply to deliver services under the Cyber Security Program – Cyber Awareness Support for Vulnerable Groups from 2024–25 to 2026–27.
The program will help to expand the national cyber security awareness campaign to uplift cyber security outreach and literacy among the Australian community. The grants will support advocacy, charity, not-for-profit and community groups to develop and deliver tailored cyber security literacy programs, based on materials developed under the Act Now, Stay Secure campaign, to vulnerable groups.
Engagement with vulnerable groups and their uptake of cyber security advice is likely to be more impactful if the message is designed by the community groups and leaders who best understand the unique needs of their communities.
Application close at 9pm on 11 July 2024
Details can be found here:Grantsconnect
New Migrant Worker Protections
The Strengthening Employer Compliance Act has introduced new laws to tackle migrant worker exploitation.
Starting from 1 July 2024, the new laws aim to:
- reduce temporary migrant worker exploitation
- increase employer compliance
- improve workplace justice outcomes.
There are three new work-related offences that make it illegal for employers, including sponsors, and labour hire intermediaries to:
- coerce or pressure a temporary visa holder to breach a work-related visa condition
- coerce or pressure a non-citizen without a valid visa to accept or agree to a work-related arrangement
- use a worker’s temporary visa status to exploit them in the workplace (including in relation to existing visa conditions and requirements to support future visa application).
See Migration Worker Protection.
What’s unfair dismissal? | Fair Work Ombudsman
Under Australian law, a dismissal that is harsh, unjust, or unreasonable may be considered unfair. So, what are some examples?
- Harsh: The dismissal is an extreme response to the situation, or the dismissal has a very big/disproportionate impact on the employee’s economic and personal situation.
- Unjust: The employee is not guilty of the action or behaviour the employer used as the reason to dismiss them.
- Unreasonable: The evidence does not support the decision to dismiss the employee.
The Fair Work Commission, a different agency to the Fair Work Ombudsman, decides on cases of unfair dismissal.
Eligibility criteria apply. You can find guidance on eligibility, the application process and other related tools here –
Unfair dismissal – Fair Work Ombudsman
National Bowel Cancer Screening Program | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Did you know bowel cancer is Australia’s second deadliest cancer claiming over 5,000 lives each year?
June is bowel cancer awareness month and the perfect time to remind yourself or a loved one aged 50-74 to complete the free screening test!
From July 1, 2024 – Australians aged 45-49 can also join the program by ordering a free kit online.
- Bowel cancer often develops without any symptoms.
- Over 90% can be successfully treated if found early.
- The free screening kit can help detect a problem before it becomes life threatening.
So, if you have the test, pop it in the bathroom and complete it. If your kit is lost or expired, order a new test for free at –
National Bowel Cancer Screening Program | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
New resources – NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service
NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service has recently launched two resources in different languages:
Relationships 101 — MHCS (nsw.gov.au
Information in your Language
Australian Citizenship test resource booklet
Australian Values – Life in Australia booklet
Domestic/family violence and your visa
Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP)
Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation
eSafety Commissioner – be safe online
Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC)
Australian Electoral Commission
Australian Taxation Office – Information about Tax
Fair Work Ombudsman – Your workplace rights and obligations
Department of Health and Aged Care – General information
My Aged Care – Accessible aged care services
Carer Gateway – If you are a carer for someone
Scamwatch – Protect yourself from scams
Services Australia – Centrelink and Medicare
Contact us
Thank you for helping to keep your communities safe and informed. We hope you find our updates useful and encourage you to share it with your community members, family, friends and colleagues, so that important and current information can reach as many people as possible. We also welcome your ideas on what you would like us to include in future editions
Ensuring we remain connected with your communities is a high priority for the Department of Home Affairs and the Australian Government. Your feedback is vital to the Department and informs policy, decision making and government messaging. Please continue to pass your concerns and questions to us on any issues or concern affecting your community.
Please advise us if you wish to be removed from this email list.
SW Community Engagement Team, Department of Home Affairs
Regional Director NSW/ACT: Sneha Chatterjee
Email: nsw.community.engagement@homeaffairs.gov.au
Website:
