By Andy Park
They are the doctors walking the hospital corridors and the IT specialists propelling Australia towards a digital economy, but in their homes, lie ancient arts.
For every subcontinental high-skilled 457 visa holder who fills Australia's skill shortages, there are the spouses and families they bring with them - some, like Aruna Subbiah, are high-skilled too.
But unsurprisingly, the classical Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam does not appear of the list of skill shortages.
“[My husband] is a doctor and I came as a dependant spouse with him,” Aruna said.
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A leading proponent of the Southern Indian art form, Aruna has trained and toured with the best.
“As a temporary resident, we do have the eligibility to work, but when it comes to really applying for jobs that are more suitable to our skills and expanding my work in the field of Arts then permanent residency is a must,” she said.
She and her friends are one of many spouses of highly-skilled workers who are not able to employee skills in their chosen area, and often resort to more menial work which is allowed under their visa type.
“They're just sitting at home and they have had such good careers back home in India but they're not able to pursue that full-swing here, so it's like a big emotional trauma for many of them where they're also challenged between whether to stay here of to go back to India,” she said.
