Obtain appropriate visa before working in Australia – High Com

KUALA LUMPUR: The Australian High Commission has reminded Malaysians planning to work in Australia to obtain the appropriate visa before travelling there.

In a statement yesterday, it said: “Most Malaysians are able to travel to Australia on an Australian Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). However, the ETA is intended for tourism and does not carry any right to work in Australia.”

On Feb 7, 12 Malaysians were among a group of 27 illegal foreign workers identified working at a farm in Queensland, Australia, with nine of the Malaysians found to have overstayed while three others were working in breach of their visas, including the ETA.

“The Australian government is determined to prevent the exploitation of foreign workers in Australia. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection through its operational arm, the Australian Border Force, targets illegal workers and employers to stop visa fraud and exploitation of foreign workers,” it said.

The Australian High Commission said some Malaysians were being tricked into scams in which agents offered visas for sale for the purpose of working and those cheated were paid nothing or paid very low wages and living in poor conditions.

“Foreign nationals caught working illegally are detained and removed from Australia. They also face sanctions on their future travels and incur costs of their removal from Australia,” it said.

Malaysians travelling to Australia are advised to be informed of the proper channels to obtain Australian visas via the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s service delivery partner in Malaysia, VFS Global, which operates the Australian Visa Application Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

Information is available on VFS Global’s website at http:// www.vfsglobal.com/australia/ malaysia/ or Australia’s Department of Immigration and Border Protection at http://www. border.gov.au/ — Bernama