Media Releases

The Government has announced today that it will be introducing a new temporary sponsored parent visa, which will be valid for up to five years. The Government has released a discussion paper on the sponsored visa program and will undertake a series of community consultations. You can read the discussion paper here.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) welcomes the Government’s announcement of the new temporary sponsored parent visa in Australia, however hold concerns about some aspects of the proposal.

Family migration allows migrants to maintain family ties and connections. Family reunion is integral for successful settlement, promoting social wellbeing and cohesion. It is also related to core human rights principles around the rights of Australians to live with their family members.

FECCA Deputy Chair Peter Doukas said, “We are pleased that the Government recognises the importance of families as ‘fundamental building blocks’ of society, and has considered how important family reunion is for migrant communities.”

“While we welcome today’s announcement, we believe that families must still have a more permanent pathway to reunite with their family members from overseas. Flexible temporary parent visas must not replace the existing options for people to migrate to Australia, and join their families on non-contributory and contributory parent visas”, said Mr Doukas.

FECCA is concerned that a shift away from permanent parent visas to flexible temporary parent visas will leave many individuals without a social safety net and no access to crucial services. This will put pressure on Australian families and individuals who hold temporary parent visas. It could also create a class of migrants who are not supported to settle in Australia, affecting social cohesion.

The stay period may be granted for up to five years, and the visa holder may apply to renew their visa for further periods of up to five years at a time. The length of the visa will be determined by a number of factors including:

• The needs of the applicant or their sponsoring child
• The capacity of the applicant and/or their sponsoring child to support their stay in Australia
• The health and age of the visa applicant
• Their previous immigration history

There will also be a number of key requirements for temporary parent visas including:

• The parent must obtain adequate private health insurance from an Australian provider
• Individuals sponsoring their parents on these visa must have been living in, and contributing to Australia for a number of years
• Sponsors will be required to show that they can support their parents, if necessary, including income and asset assessments
• Sponsors will need to provide either a financial bond as debt security, or an equivalent legally binding commitment, to assist in recouping costs where sponsorship obligations have not been honoured

FECCA looks forward to engaging with the Government throughout the consultation process in relation to these visas.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, media@fecca.org.au.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) held a thematic event on ‘Australia’s shifting linguistic landscape: Language policy and practice’ at the Museum of Australian Democracy (Old Parliament House) in Canberra today.

Dr Joseph Lo Bianco, Professor of Language and Literacy Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, was our keynote speaker for the event.

The event also featured the launch of FECCA’s report, ‘Australia’s Growing Linguistic Diversity: An opportunity for a strategic approach to language services policy and practice’.

The report provides an analysis of FECCA’s consultation and research to develop an evidence base on language service provision in new and emerging community languages, that is, languages spoken by individuals who came to Australia as humanitarian entrants over recent years.

FECCA Chairperson Joe Caputo said, “The provision of language services can enhance access to social services for migrants, assist to alleviate isolation and lead to better connections with the community.”

“Quality language services can also improve health outcomes and enable access to fundamental rights, such as the right to a fair trial. The availability of well-trained, competent interpreters to work with individuals in complex circumstances, such as family and domestic violence situations, is critical to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of these individuals.”

Training options for interpreters in new and emerging community languages is limited. In this report, FECCA has recommended an optimal training and accreditation model, based on a review of the various models across jurisdictions and the identification of good practice elements. There is a strong need for a national, multi-jurisdictional program to increase the quantity and quality of language services to meet the language services needs in new and emerging languages.

With the diversity of Australia’s population increasing, a solution to address language services needs for emerging languages must be sustainable, flexible and forward-looking; one that can be contextualised and applied to specific languages and the changing circumstances of supply and demand.

Dr Joseph Lo Bianco, Professor at the University of Melbourne stated, “To build our interpreting, translating and mediation services we need high levels of proficiency, support for less commonly taught languages, flexibility and innovation.”

“It is in the interests of the entire national community that we support language services, because by doing so the entire community benefits.”

The proposed solution could also have a positive flow-on effect for addressing language services supply and demand gaps for other, more established languages, by developing evidence of good practice and innovative solutions. FECCA’s report outlines a way forward.

Read Australia’s Growing Linguistic Diversity: An opportunity for a strategic approach to language services policy and practice full report here.

Read Australia’s Growing Linguistic Diversity: An opportunity for a strategic approach to language services policy and practice Executive Summary here.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755 or media@fecca.org.au.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) welcomes the Productivity Commission’s report from its inquiry into Australia’s Migrant Intake. The report is an important contribution to our understanding of the impact of Australia’s migration programmes.

FECCA is strongly opposed to the Commission’s recommendations with respect to parent visas, which appears skewed toward fiscal impacts. The social and cultural contribution of family stream migration should not be under-estimated.

The Productivity Commission’s report recommends that the Australian Government amend arrangements for permanent parent visa applicants. In the short term, the Commission says the Government should:

• increase substantially the charge for contributory parent visas;
• narrow eligibility to non-contributory parent visas to cases where there are strong compassionate grounds to do so, accompanied by clear published criteria to limit applications for such visas;
• consider lowering the caps for contributory parent visas; and
• introduce a more flexible temporary parent visa that would provide longer rights of residence, but with requirements, as for other temporary visas, that the parents or sponsoring child would meet the costs of any income or health supports during the period of residence.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection advises there is approximately a 30 year wait before visa grant consideration for parent (non-contributory) visa applications. There is a delay of up to 50 years for people applying for remaining relative and aged dependent relative visa applications. The associated costs for contributory parent visas are also significantly higher than those for non-contributory visas.

FECCA Chairperson Joe Caputo said, “The availability of family reunion is essential for successful settlement, allowing migrants to maintain family ties and connections. Family reunion is also related to core human rights principles around the rights of Australians to live with their family members.”

“FECCA is fundamentally opposed to the imposition of a fee for immigration to Australia. Australia’s migration intake should be balanced and merit-based, not based on the financial means of a potential migrant. A holistic approach should be adopted, looking at the skills and other contributions of migrants”, said Mr Caputo.

FECCA believes the Migration Programme must achieve a balance between skilled and family migration. We are concerned that the report’s recommendations do not adequately recognise the importance of family migration. Overlooking the benefits of Family migration may lead to the system being heavily skewed toward skilled migration.

Read FECCA’s full response to the Productivity Commission’s report on Australia’s Migrant Intake here.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755, media@fecca.org.au.

The Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) opposes attempts to amend and weaken Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.

Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act provides important protection against racially motivated attacks, including hate speech, against members of Australia’s culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

FECCA Acting Chairperson Eugenia Grammatikakis said, “Attacks against CALD communities have increased in recent years, causing distress for the individuals and communities affected, while promoting exclusion and fear.”

The Racial Discrimination Act attempts to strike a balance between the right to freedom from racial vilification and the right of freedom of expression. FECCA opposes the proposal to remove the words “insult” and “offend” from section 18C of the legislation.

Section 18D sets out exemptions to ensure that conduct will not be unlawful where done reasonably and in good faith (that is, in the performance, exhibition, artistic work; for any genuine academic, artistic or scientific purpose, or any other genuine purpose in the public interest).

FECCA believes that the 2014 debate on this issue was extensive and does not need to be re-opened. There was an overwhelming community response against changes to the Racial Discrimination Act; with thousands of community members and their organisations expressing alarm that the then proposed repeal of 18C, would strip protection from the most marginalised members of our society and threaten social cohesion in Australia.

“FECCA reiterates our opposition to any amendment of 18C that would see a weakening of provisions that are crucial to ensuring harmony, by protecting vulnerable groups. We continue to stress the importance of the Australia’s diverse society in coming together to foster community harmony and cohesion”, said Ms Grammatikakis.

Media Comments: FECCA Office – (02) 6282 5755 or media@fecca.org.au.