Australia to crack down on visa fraud, human trafficking, other organised crime

The Australian government announced on Wednesday that it will address substantial abuses of its immigration system in order to combat human trafficking and other types of organized crime.

The government says it will spend A$50 million ($31.48 million) to create a branch inside the Department of Home Affairs to combat visa and migration system abuse.

Former Police Commissioner Christine Nixon highlighted “abuses of sexual exploitation, human trafficking, and other organized crime” in the Immigration system in a January report.

Long reliant on Immigration to supply what is now one of the tightest labour markets in the world, Australia has proposed overhauling its system to speed up the entry of highly skilled workers and smoothening the path to permanent residency.

The Labor government has worked to retool Australia’s immigration procedure since taking office in May 2022, following a surge in post-pandemic migration that resulted in significant visa processing delays.

As part of the revisions, the government will overhaul Australia’s migration agent system, which is frequently employed by potential migrants to navigate the country’s complex immigration procedure.

According to the administration, a small number of agents misused the system.

Australia’s current immigration system is “far too complex,” the former police commissioner, O’Neil said, adding that it had become virtually unworkable for average people and firms attempting to bring in skilled workers.