Olongapo Subic Volunteers

Sunday, October 23, 2005

DFA warns against illegal recruitment in Australia

The Department of Foreign Affairs Friday warned the public against illegal recruitment and employment-related problems in Australia after it received report from the Philippine Embassy in Canberra on a number of complaints from victims of this illegal activity.

Philippine Ambassador to Canberra Cristina Ortega said that such problems are starting to emerge since the skills shortage in Australia was publicized.

According to the Ambassador, the Embassy has proposed to Australian officials how the Philippines and Australia could undertake joint training of skills that may be useful for both countries. "It seems that the illegal recruiters are two steps ahead of us," she said.

Citing the case of nurses which are reportedly in acute shortage in New South Wales and other rural areas in Australia, Ambassador Ortega explained that Philippine-trained nurses may not be registered and hired even when they have extensive experience in the Philippines or overseas, particularly in non-Commonwealth countries.

Because of non-equivalency of qualifications between the two countries, Philippine-trained nurses are required to undertake bridging courses which could take between six to twelve months.

In view of the uncertainty of and the costs involved in acquiring the needed qualifications after recruitment and deployment to Australia, Ambassador Ortega said the Embassy has lobbied that bridging courses be taken instead in the Philippines with counterpart universities/colleges.

This will give protection to Filipino nurses and ensure that they are gainfully employed once they are deployed in Australia, according to Ambassador Ortega.

The Philippine Embassy also reported that some unscrupulous recruiters are using tourist visas and short-term business visas with the promise of employment once in Australia. These recruiters are able to extract hefty sums in exchange for nonexistent jobs.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) issued recently an advisory that it is not recruiting workers for Australia.
 
 
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