Hey everyone
Wael and Johannes have set up an online petition for the Concession card campaign, which is very awesome. It would be great for everone to sign it and send it onto all your friends, and get them to send it onto all their friends and so on and so on. The address for the online petition is: http://www.petitiononline.com/ccforvic/petition.html. They have also set up a facebook group, the address for that is: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=23850395589I.
Great work guys.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Foreign students take on state over discrimination...2007
See: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/foreign-students-take-on-state-over-discrimination/2007/09/21/1189881777593.html
Foreign students take on state over discrimination
Written by NLC VIC Publication Officer
Saturday, 22 September 2007
Adam Morton
THE State Government has been criticised by the chief of its equal opportunity commission after introducing legislation to quash a racial discrimination case.
Overseas students have taken the state to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, arguing laws denying them public transport concessions are discriminatory.
Represented by the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria, they claim 100,000 international students bring about $3 billion a year to the economy but are treated as second-class citizens, banned from concession rates on trams, trains and buses.
When conciliation failed, the council was preparing to take the case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Transport Minister Lynne Kosky this week moved to ensure that if a case was launched, it would be the first and last time. Telling Parliament the Government's policy was not discriminatory, she introduced an amendment to the Equal Opportunity Act banning discrimination complaints by overseas students over public transport.
Equal Opportunity Commission chief executive Helen Szoke, who only learnt of the proposed change yesterday, said she was disappointed the commission had not been consulted.
"If the (Government's) view is that it is not discriminatory, why then amend the act in this manner without consultation?"
The ethnic communities' council said while Ms Kosky stressed the case could continue, the proposed laws would override the result, rendering it pointless. "The new legislation … is unfair and discriminatory and potentially in breach of their new Human Rights and Responsibilities Charter," council chairman Phong Nguyen said.
Elva Zhang, president of the Australian Federation of International Students, said her members felt "betrayed and let down", arguing Australian students have access to concession cards when they study overseas.
Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop early this year wrote to Victoria and NSW, the only other state to deny foreign students a concession, accusing them of putting the overseas student market at risk.
Jessica Harris, spokeswoman for Ms Kosky, said the Government acknowledged the important contribution of overseas students but public transport was already heavily subsidised.
"When full-fee-paying students gain a visa to study in Australia, they must demonstrate that they are already fully self-sufficient and able to meet all their living expenses, including public transport expenses, while they are here," she said.
The reinforcement of the concession ban comes as universities and the city council plan a marketing campaign to sell Melbourne as "the Boston of the southern hemisphere" — a learning hub that welcomes international students.
Overseas students pay nearly $50 a month more than the concession rate. Charging full fees amounts to an estimated $30 million a year.
Mr Nguyen called on the Liberal Party not to support the legislation in the upper house.
Liberal education spokesman Martin Dixon said overseas students brought "incredible economic and cultural benefits", but would not commit. "If we're going to lose our competitive edge in Victoria by charging (full) public transport rates, than we need to look at it," he said.
Foreign students take on state over discrimination
Written by NLC VIC Publication Officer
Saturday, 22 September 2007
Adam Morton
THE State Government has been criticised by the chief of its equal opportunity commission after introducing legislation to quash a racial discrimination case.
Overseas students have taken the state to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, arguing laws denying them public transport concessions are discriminatory.
Represented by the Ethnic Communities' Council of Victoria, they claim 100,000 international students bring about $3 billion a year to the economy but are treated as second-class citizens, banned from concession rates on trams, trains and buses.
When conciliation failed, the council was preparing to take the case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
Transport Minister Lynne Kosky this week moved to ensure that if a case was launched, it would be the first and last time. Telling Parliament the Government's policy was not discriminatory, she introduced an amendment to the Equal Opportunity Act banning discrimination complaints by overseas students over public transport.
Equal Opportunity Commission chief executive Helen Szoke, who only learnt of the proposed change yesterday, said she was disappointed the commission had not been consulted.
"If the (Government's) view is that it is not discriminatory, why then amend the act in this manner without consultation?"
The ethnic communities' council said while Ms Kosky stressed the case could continue, the proposed laws would override the result, rendering it pointless. "The new legislation … is unfair and discriminatory and potentially in breach of their new Human Rights and Responsibilities Charter," council chairman Phong Nguyen said.
Elva Zhang, president of the Australian Federation of International Students, said her members felt "betrayed and let down", arguing Australian students have access to concession cards when they study overseas.
Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop early this year wrote to Victoria and NSW, the only other state to deny foreign students a concession, accusing them of putting the overseas student market at risk.
Jessica Harris, spokeswoman for Ms Kosky, said the Government acknowledged the important contribution of overseas students but public transport was already heavily subsidised.
"When full-fee-paying students gain a visa to study in Australia, they must demonstrate that they are already fully self-sufficient and able to meet all their living expenses, including public transport expenses, while they are here," she said.
The reinforcement of the concession ban comes as universities and the city council plan a marketing campaign to sell Melbourne as "the Boston of the southern hemisphere" — a learning hub that welcomes international students.
Overseas students pay nearly $50 a month more than the concession rate. Charging full fees amounts to an estimated $30 million a year.
Mr Nguyen called on the Liberal Party not to support the legislation in the upper house.
Liberal education spokesman Martin Dixon said overseas students brought "incredible economic and cultural benefits", but would not commit. "If we're going to lose our competitive edge in Victoria by charging (full) public transport rates, than we need to look at it," he said.
Parliament bill passed: denying concession cards to international students
See: http://tex.parliament.vic.gov.au/bin/texhtmlt?form=VicHansard.dumpall&db=hansard91&dodraft=0&house=ASSEMBLY&speech=60458&activity=Second+Reading&title=TRANSPORT+LEGISLATION+AMENDMENT+BILL&date1=20&date2=September&date3=2007&query=true%0A%09and+(+activity+contains+'Second+Reading'+)%0A%09and+(+hdate.hdate_3+=+2007+)%0A%09and+(+hdate.hdate_2+contains+'September'+)%0A%09and+(+hdate.hdate_1+=+20+)%0A%09and+(+house+contains+'ASSEMBLY'+)%0A
Private full-fee-paying international students -- concession travel on public transport
Victoria has a generous public transport concessions program available across the State. In 2006, the government spent over $170 million on concessions for a wide range of public transport users. The program is kept under constant review.
Last year, for example, we announced further concessions for seniors in our community as part of the MOTC statement.
It is, however, critical that resources continue to be carefully targeted especially considering the subsidies which already apply for all users of public transport travel.
Victoria very much welcomes the private full-fee-paying overseas students who choose to study here and we acknowledge their important contribution to the state. However, for sound policy reasons, this government has not considered providing concessions assistance to this particular group of students a priority, and therefore the students do not receive the entitlement. The previous government held the same view.
Providing transport concessions to private full-fee-paying overseas students would be very costly. The money used to pay for extending the scheme to these students would have to come from another area of budget and could impact on other service improvements if the entitlement was granted. In addition, it would be inconsistent with the terms of the students' entry into Australia. When private full-fee-paying overseas students gain a visa to study in Australia, they must demonstrate that they are already fully self-sufficient and able to meet all their living expenses, including public transport expenses, while they are here. The students are required to pay substantial fees to study for their degree and, at the same time, they are also not eligible for benefits such as Medicare, Newstart allowance or Austudy. Unlike Australian citizens, permanent residents and students with refugee status whose intention is to live and work In Australia on an ongoing basis, there is no expectation that private full-fee-paying students will continue to live in Victoria beyond completing their education.
In these circumstances, Victorian taxpayers should not be expected to further subsidise private full-fee-paying overseas students' travel on public transport. New South Wales, like Victoria, does not provide concessions to this group of students and in 2006 it passed special legislation to exclude the entitlement following a finding by the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal under antidiscrimination law in that state.
While the government does not believe the current policy is discriminatory, the purpose of the amendments is to continue the current policy of not providing public transport concessions to private full-fee-paying overseas students. As part of that, the amendments confirm that the policy does not constitute, and has never constituted, discrimination on the basis of race for the purposes of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995. However, the bill expressly preserves the right of the complainant to pursue the argument in a current matter which is before the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
But the government is otherwise acting through the bill to prevent further complaints and cases being brought or parties or persons being added to the current matter.
Private full-fee-paying international students -- concession travel on public transport
Victoria has a generous public transport concessions program available across the State. In 2006, the government spent over $170 million on concessions for a wide range of public transport users. The program is kept under constant review.
Last year, for example, we announced further concessions for seniors in our community as part of the MOTC statement.
It is, however, critical that resources continue to be carefully targeted especially considering the subsidies which already apply for all users of public transport travel.
Victoria very much welcomes the private full-fee-paying overseas students who choose to study here and we acknowledge their important contribution to the state. However, for sound policy reasons, this government has not considered providing concessions assistance to this particular group of students a priority, and therefore the students do not receive the entitlement. The previous government held the same view.
Providing transport concessions to private full-fee-paying overseas students would be very costly. The money used to pay for extending the scheme to these students would have to come from another area of budget and could impact on other service improvements if the entitlement was granted. In addition, it would be inconsistent with the terms of the students' entry into Australia. When private full-fee-paying overseas students gain a visa to study in Australia, they must demonstrate that they are already fully self-sufficient and able to meet all their living expenses, including public transport expenses, while they are here. The students are required to pay substantial fees to study for their degree and, at the same time, they are also not eligible for benefits such as Medicare, Newstart allowance or Austudy. Unlike Australian citizens, permanent residents and students with refugee status whose intention is to live and work In Australia on an ongoing basis, there is no expectation that private full-fee-paying students will continue to live in Victoria beyond completing their education.
In these circumstances, Victorian taxpayers should not be expected to further subsidise private full-fee-paying overseas students' travel on public transport. New South Wales, like Victoria, does not provide concessions to this group of students and in 2006 it passed special legislation to exclude the entitlement following a finding by the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal under antidiscrimination law in that state.
While the government does not believe the current policy is discriminatory, the purpose of the amendments is to continue the current policy of not providing public transport concessions to private full-fee-paying overseas students. As part of that, the amendments confirm that the policy does not constitute, and has never constituted, discrimination on the basis of race for the purposes of the Equal Opportunity Act 1995. However, the bill expressly preserves the right of the complainant to pursue the argument in a current matter which is before the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission.
But the government is otherwise acting through the bill to prevent further complaints and cases being brought or parties or persons being added to the current matter.
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