A recent mass upgrading of universities’ immigration risk ratings is being touted as a sign that Australia no longer cares about visa abuse, in what the government has called an “intentional misrepresentation” of the country’s defences against “non-genuine” students.

The Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has issued an “” warning that prospective students are using fraudulent passport details to secure enrolment offers from Australian institutions, including top-ranked universities.

The scams are concentrated in, “but not limited to”, South Asia. Agents are being “incentivised” to facilitate visa applications, “regardless of supporting documentation”, the warning says. 

�����ٱ𳾲����’s update of institutional risk ratings is being portrayed as evidence that Australia’s student visa programme is “open to non-genuine students”, the department reports. “This is an intentional misrepresentation of the evidence level framework and education provider obligations.”

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The evidence level framework separates institutions and countries into three risk categories, from favourable level 1 to unfavourable level 3. The combination of these ratings determines how much evidence students from each country must provide in visa applications.

Applicants from poorly rated countries, who are enrolled with poorly rated institutions, must supply additional documentation about their English language skills and financial resources.

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In the September update, 15 universities’ risk ratings were raised from 2 to 1. Countries’ risk ratings also changed, leaving just a handful of nations at level 3.

In practice, this means additional documentation is only required from citizens of a few countries – principally Colombia, Pakistan and the Philippines – enrolled at fewer than one-third of Australia’s 40-plus universities.

The DHA bulletin also warns that institutions must satisfy themselves of would-be students’ linguistic and financial suitability, even if the extra documentation is not required in visa applications. The department is authorised to demand the extra evidence “at any time while processing the application”, and students and agents should be prepared to provide it “if requested”.

Mike Ferguson, pro vice-chancellor of Charles Sturt University, said the evidence level framework no longer served much purpose. While it made little difference to universities’ obligations in practical terms, it invited “silly games” from operators who were “always looking for some type of loophole to exploit”.

Ferguson, who helped design the system as a former immigration official, said risk rating improvements were “a reward for better practice” by institutions. But they were inevitably interpreted as a sign of “the handbrake coming off”, encouraging “all sorts of dodgy practices”.

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He said the department should require evidence of language and financial capacity from all visa applicants, irrespective of their nationality, and use modern data analysis techniques – which were “much more sophisticated than just looking at country and provider” – to determine which applications warranted greater scrutiny.

Ferguson said the system had been designed at a time when students could realistically support themselves exclusively from their part-time earnings, but cost-of-living increases had changed all that. “We’re in a different environment now. It’s much more important that they’ve got genuine funds available to support [their] study.”

Meanwhile, courses in early childhood education have surfaced as a magnet for dodgy practice. In a joint “”, the higher education and vocational training regulators warned of “emerging risks” in the management of students’ practical placements.

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They included failure to undertake mandatory checks of students and conduct “sufficient due diligence” in choosing venues for student placements.

The warning coincides with horrific claims about sexual abuse in the childcare sector. ABC TV’s Four Corners programme that childcare centres had become “infiltrated” by paedophiles, after a Victorian man was with over 70 offences at just one of the 23 centres where he had worked over the past eight years.

The regulators’ alert said some early childhood education courses had seen “large changes” in enrolments. Third party recruiters were targeting students who did not meet entry requirements, and institutions were admitting students who were not “genuine”.

“Providers and their governing bodies [must] apply focus to these issues as a priority,” the bulletin warns.

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john.ross@timeshighereducation.com