More foreign students move to Australia on 'cookery' courses
April 02 2009 by Ajay Hasija
Campaigners in Australia are asking for ‘cooking’ to be removed from the Skilled Occupation List, a route that makes people who move to Australia eligible for permanent residency through gaining a employer-sponsored visa.
A report by Monash University’s Centre for Population and Urban Research, called ‘The Cooking-Immigration Nexus,’ says the current system is not working and that the number of foreign students studying in Australia and enrolling in cooking courses has increased eightfold. In 2008, 8,242 overseas students enrolled in cooking classes. Compared with just 1,019 in 2004.
The report states, ‘permanent residence is extremely attractive to people from low-wage countries…People who are desperate for that prize are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that, and the current system is almost an incitement for them to go to employers and undercut the going rate, and of course for employers to exploit this as well."
A major problem lies in the fact that most do not go on to work in Australia as trade level cooks once they have been granted permanent residency, as many of the courses are not regulated to ensure their quality. As a result of this, a shortage of skilled cooks still exists.
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