The forced turn-back of asylum seeker boats to Indonesia has overwhelming public support in Australia, bolstering Prime Minister Tony Abbott as he sits down on Wednesday with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. A new poll also finds almost two-thirds of Australians…

Micro Focus (LSE.MCRO.L), the leading provider of enterprise application modernisation, testing and management solutions, today released the results of its Australian Cobol survey, which revealed one third of organisations view skill shortages as the biggest challenges in Cobol environments. At…

ELEANOR HALL: The tenth annual Lowy Institute Poll was released today and it paints a surprising portrait of Australians’ attitudes on foreign and domestic policy. A survey of 1,000 people found Australians see China and Japan having equal claims to…

More than 500 Afghan nationals who were employed in support of Australia’s mission in Afghanistan, together with their families, have now been granted visas to Australia under the 2013-14 refugee and humanitarian programme. Read more: http://www.minister.defence.gov.au/2014/06/02/at-risk-afghan-employees-settled-in-australia/

A MINI asylum seeker baby boom is taking place after hundreds of mums fleeing war-ravaged countries settled in Melbourne. Settlement agency AMES says more than 150 babies have been born to asylum seeker families it has had contact with in…

Supporters of the Not for Profit peak body Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) have responded to the Federal Government’s cut to the peak body’s core funding – donating $50,000 in two days to its emergency funding appeal. RCOA Chief Executive…

Youth students from St Albans, Footscray and Box Hill recently were introduced to potential employment opportunities through a ‘Try a Trade’ event. The event took place at the Phoenix Youth Centre, in Footscray, and was organised by the City of…

It’s on the job training but not as you know it. In a Victorian first, an innovative program is delivering English lessons to newly arrived migrant workers in their own workplaces. Settlement agency AMES, in partnership with curtain maker Dollar…

Cultural isolation and notions of material aspiration are contributing to high rates of problem gambling among some migrant communities, new research has found. The study, by Monash University researchers found Chinese migrant gamblers are five times more likely to fall…

AMES welcomed Victorian Shadow Minister for Higher Education Mr Steve Herbert to our Flagstaff site last week. Mr Herbert visited the employment, education and settlement services areas and spoke to students and staff. He engaged especially with the students who…

AMES volunteer tutor Beth Dooley has been nominated for a Deakin Community Award for the work she does in Croydon’s community garden and among many of AMES Karen refugee students. “Many of the Karen come to the garden and are…

Chinese migrant gamblers are five times more likely to fall victim to problem gambling than the general gambling population, new research has found. Class ideals and cultural isolation are contributing to a higher rate of problem gambling in Australia’s Chinese…