Studying English in Australia was a long-held dream for Brazilian couple James da Silva Quionha and Sabrina Azambuja Kochhan.
When they found an education agency run by Brazilians in Brisbane that promised to “take the first step in your student visa process”, they thought they had landed on a way to make it a reality.
But after paying around $11,000 to Tu Futuro en Australia for accommodation and enrolment on a six-month English course, the company’s owner disappeared.
Brazilian couple James and Sabrina lost $11,000 to an education agency. Source: SBS News
The couple count among about 100 South American students left in the lurch after using the company to arrange their courses, accommodation, insurance and student visas.
In total, the group of students paid at least $500,000 for services which they claimed never materialised.
“We didn’t think this would happen in Australia,” 25-year-old Ms Kochhan told SBS News.
Parliamentary inquiry
Unscrupulous operators who rip off those who hope to live, work or study in Australia are to be scrutinised by a parliamentary inquiry which opened in Canberra on Wednesday.
The inquiry into migration agents follows a joint that revealed victims were losing tens of thousands of dollars after falling prey to false promises by agents and others operating in the sector.
It is against the law for education agents to offer migration advice unless they are registered as migration agents, but the Department of Home Affairs said it had received anecdotal evidence that some were doing so.
The inquiry also comes off the back of a growing number of complaints in the sector. Source: SBS
The inquiry also comes off the back of a growing number of complaints in the sector. According to Department of Home Affairs figures, there were 800 complaints against registered migration agents last year - up from just over 600 in 2014.
The department told the inquiry on Wednesday there was a real threat posed by corrupt or unregistered migration agents, including organised crime groups taking advantage of flaws in the current system.
The department said changes to information and evidence-sharing powers needed to be made, as the current arrangement was a “significant impediment” to investigating fraudulent behaviour by registered and unregistered migration agents.
“Those changes would enable us a level of agility to get some quick wins on those allegations that come through, rather than protracted lengthy investigations,” Australian Border Force Commander James Copeman told the inquiry.
Complaints increase
University of Sydney law professor Mary Crock, who has specialised in immigration law for over three decades, said most registered migration agents are doing the right thing by their clients.
She suggested the increasingly “draconian” immigration legal system in Australia may be the reason behind the rising number of complaints.
Professor Mary Crock says there are no legal barriers stopping the government from releasing asylum seekers from offshore detention centres. Source: SBS
“I suspect dissatisfactions with migration outcomes are one of the reasons you’ve got an increasing number of complaints. I don’t see that there is a drop in the quality of migration agents,” she said.
Ms Crock said the issue of education providers offering de facto immigration advice was a serious issue with ramifications for potential students.
“They are telling them ‘if you do this course you will able to get X visa or Y visa’, so the students go and pay a lot of money up front and in the end are very disappointed,” she said.
SBS News made multiple attempts to contact Tu Futuro En Australia this week but received no response.
Despite the setback of losing so much money, James and Sabrina took out a loan in Brazil and ended up making it to Brisbane, where they now work and study English.
They have extended their visa and are planning to stay as long as possible to keep learning the language.
“We want to enjoy Australia a little bit more,” Mr Quionha said.
Correction: An earlier version of this report said according to government figures, there were more than 7,300 complaints against registered migration agents last year - up from 5,500 in 2014. This has been corrected to 800 complaints - up from just over 600 in 2014 - according to Department of Home Affairs figures.
