Suvitti Deo has just the kind of skills any economy needs. She came to the ANU from India and now has a degree in statistics and actuarial studies. She is studying for her honours degree in December.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
She wants to stay but she says the route to getting a job after graduation is complex and badly needs simplifying.
"I think it would be a great thing if the rules were made easier," she said as she ate lunch in the sun on the ANU campus.
"I can give a lot to Australia. I have great skills and I can give back to the community."
Her reaction came after the government announced a major overhaul of the migration visa system after a scathing review described it as "broken".
She already helps other students at the ANU, formally by teaching but informally by mentoring and just being friendly to people far from home.
She came from Delhi on a student visa in July 2018, and that subclass 500 visa has seen her through university.
But she wants to stay because she likes Australia and because the work culture in her profession is better than in India.
"In India, insurance companies are state-owned. In Australia, it's much more dynamic," she said.
The pay is also much better in Australia, and Australian companies are part of a global business scene.
But to get a job in Australia, she would need a three-year temporary graduate visa - but she's been told this subclass 485 category can take six months to come through. There is a mountain of bureaucracy to climb.
But Ms Deo is not in as tough a position as an undergraduate with no degree - she already has an ANU degree and is staying for the honours leg.
True undergraduates can't apply for the temporary graduate visa until they graduate. In other words, they must get the degree and then apply - and then wait for the bureaucracy to process the application.
They can get bridging visas which means they don't get deported but these bridging visas (which have an alphabet soup of categories) often only allow the holder to work for 24 hours per week. This means highly-qualified people end up burger flipping - or returning to their home country, taking their skills with them.
Accordingly, universities welcomed the government's promise to speed up and simplify the system so skilled graduates have more of a chance of staying in good jobs in Australia after graduating.
The proposals ought to make it easier for Australian universities and colleges to compete for the top students against top universities in other countries who are also seeking the best talent.
READ MORE:
Universities Australia, which represents 39 universities, welcomed the proposals for what it called "a more nimble and flexible migration system".
"Australia is one of the world's great multicultural success stories," Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said.
"We need a system that acknowledges the benefits of migration to our nation, and that means a system with greater certainty for international workers who complement our homegrown workforce."
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
