The first meeting of the Joint Working Group (JWG) on student mobility between India and Australia was held at the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs on October 6, 2009. The delegations were led by G. Gurucharan, Joint Secretary, MOIA, and by Lachlan Strahan, Deputy High Commissioner, Australia, and Mr Colin Walters, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Education International. The joint working group reaffirmed that Australia and India are committed to working together closely to address, with resolve and in a time-bound manner, issues affecting Indian students in Australia.
The meeting agreed that an India-Australia Task force will fast track these issues and report to the Joint Working Group, with a full timetable and deliverables. The next meeting of the Joint Working Group will take place in Australia in the second half of 2010. The meeting noted that the development of tighter regulatory systems in India and Australia will require the agreement of joint operating protocols to underpin the regulation. Progress on this issue will also be reported to the Joint Working Group.
