Claims of widespread fraud in Australia’s work and student visa programs

The Department of Immigration has rejected allegations of internal corruption, insisting there's no evidence of staff criminality or fraud.

Australian visa (SBS)

Australian visa (SBS) Source: SBS

It follows a joint A-B-C/Fairfax report which alleges more than 130 cases of suspected internal corruption have been referred to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity.
   
The report cites a former immigration official claiming internal investigations found fraud in the student, skilled migration and 4-5-7 visa programs.
   
However, in a statement, the department says there are no links to Australian Border Force or Customs staff as claimed.

It adds that most of those referrals related to people who claimed to be immigration officials.

But Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young says they will push for a parliamentary inquiry into visa schemes after the election to address the issue.

" This is just the tip of the iceberg. I think there is clearly things going wrong with how the other visa schemes - skilled visas, student visas, other types of visas - are operating that's why we need a fully blown parliamentary inquiry to get to the bottom of it."




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Source: AAP, ABC Australia



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