services
Metro throws open job gates [Dubai]
Eugene Harnan
A Metro station under construction on Sheikh Zayed Road.
Pawan Singh / The National
In total, 2,150 people will be needed to operate the the Red Line when it opens in September. Eight hundred positions have already been filled and a big recruitment drive is under way.
Serco, the operator of the system, wants 30 per cent of the jobs to go to nationals. Paul Anderson, project director, said: “We have a strong Emiratisation policy.”
Mr Anderson said Emiratis would fill managerial and supervisory roles and would be trained to the required skill levels.
Serco has set up a website, www.joindubaimetro.com solely for recruiting purposes and will attend this year’s Careers UAE job fair at the end of the month.
“There are already a lot of consultancy firms looking for people all over the world, chiefly India and the Philippines,” said Peyman Younes Parham, director of the Roads and Transport Authority’s marketing and corporate communications department.
The 30 per cent Emiratisation requirement is high compared with the targets set for companies in several other sectors. The insurance industry had a 15 per cent requirement in 2007-08, with an additional four per cent required each year. So far, however, Emiratis make up only seven per cent of the workforce.
The banking sector’s quota was set at four per cent in 1997-98, with the stipulation that it should increase by four per cent a year, giving the industry a requirement of 44 per cent of its staff to be Emirati this year.
Serco has hired specialists who have trained staff for the Hong Kong metro, and the newest recruits have begun their training.
“The majority are already in the classrooms. In two months’ time, they will receive hands-on training at the stations,” added Mr Parham.
There are five different training programmes, including a graduate engineer programme and apprentice schemes for school-leavers.
“In the operations management course we train for future leaders in the appropriate departments like operation supervisors and stationmasters,” said Mr Anderson.
Three of the eight directors at Serco were Emiratis, he added. “The remaining five are expatriates who are railway experts or specialists.”
Security supervisors had been recruited locally. “They come from the police or other areas of security,” he said.
On its website Serco has also posted 49 positions, ranging from a performance analyst to a cleaner, and including a track technician, a finance assistant, a graphic designer and a car park duty manager.
The Dubai Metro, which is intended to relieve the traffic burden on the city’s roads, requires job applicants to have good communication skills, including both spoken and written English.
It is mandatory for all applicants to meet standards for the role applied for and complete a medical. Visual and hearing tests will be conducted on the candidates, who will have to show they can make quick decisions, concentrate despite distractions and pay attention to detail.
The eagerly awaited Dh15.5 billion (US$4.2bn) driverless railway is on target for September 9, but questions have been raised over the opening of some of the stations because planned residential and commercial developments nearby will not be completed on time.
However, the project has met several deadlines, including the completion of the Red Line’s viaduct three days early.
The 52km viaduct, which stretches the length of Sheikh Zayed Road between Al Rashidiya and Jebel Ali, is expected to carry an estimated 27,000 passengers an hour in each direction on 42 trains, stopping at Burj Dubai, Internet City and Jebel Ali among other places.
eharnan@thenational.ae
Building up from a downturn
Angela Giuffrida
* Last Updated: March 15. 2009 7:57PM UAE / March 15. 2009 3:57PM GMT
More than 200 job seekers attended the recruitment day sponsored by the property firm Drake and Scull, which is looking to hire about 100 people. Despite a challenging economic environment, the mechanical engineering and plumbing contractor hopes to expand between 20 per cent and 25 per cent more this year than it did last year.
And considering that thousands of qualified workers have lost jobs since the property sector soured a few months ago, Drake and Scull is likely to find it easy to boost its ranks.
“We used to get two applicants and would clap and be happy,” says Khaldoun Tabari, the company’s chief executive. “We believe this is the opportune time for us to get the right talent, it will fuel our growth.”
Not only is it easier for firms to find people to hire, but also the glut of unemployed workers means employers can pay much less for them, in some cases, about 25 per cent less.
An experienced project manager who once earned Dh60,000 (US$16,330) a month, for example, is now more likely to accept a similar role for about Dh45,000.
“Getting the right talent at the moment is cheaper,” Mr Tabari said.
Just a few months ago, the most pressing issue facing construction companies in the Emirates was finding the right staff to help complete projects.
The temptation of offers of double their salaries was enough to encourage employees to switch jobs frequently.
Companies paid above normal rates to attract key staff, and introduced twice-yearly pay rises and other incentives to keep them.
The competition for talent was so tough that poaching was endemic and some firms negotiated “gentleman’s agreements” with employees to prevent them from leaving mid-way through a project.
Drake and Scull’s human resources (HR) department is searching through jobs application for candidates for the company’s mechanical, engineering and plumbing (MEP) and infrastructure, water and power (IWP) divisions. Those are areas where the firm plans to focus as it takes on projects in the GCC and North Africa.
Earlier this month, the company won a Dh36.7 million contract for a district cooling plant in Sudan and is bidding for the MEP contract for an airport project in Libya.
“Very little infrastructure has been built in countries like Sudan and Libya, so this is an opportune time for companies that have good management and infrastructure to go there,” Mr Tabari says.
“We’re looking for good strong managers for our stores, logistics people, good project managers and engineers. It will probably take us two or three weeks, and by that time we will probably have hired the people that we found suitable.”
The firm also wants to shore up its ranks to help an acquisition drive, as Drake and Scull goes after expansion opportunities in the economic downturn.
With Dh1.1 billion in available capital, the company is negotiating to acquire three GCC construction companies this year. Two of the firms are in Saudi Arabia and one is in Qatar.
“Being a public shareholding company, you have to have a systemised approach to solutions rather than the haphazard way of a private company,” Mr Tabari says. “You have to have strong HR and management, as well as have strong logistics systems in place in order to shift materials from Dubai to places like Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
“Logistics is an area we are strengthening right now because we are hopefully going to get a lot of work in Saudi Arabia and Qatar soon.”
agiuffrida@thenational.ae
Oz has the IT factor
Catherine Deshaye
A recent report in newspaper The Australian claims that there has been a 20 per cent increase in the number of IT job applications in Australia, despite the worldwide industry being hit by job losses thanks to recession...
While unemployment figures in the country have continued to rise, and Senator Chris Evans has capped skilled immigration visas at 133,500, there still seems to be a shortage of skilled IT workers.
According to the Australian Computer Society Chief Executive Kim Denham and Information Technology Contract and Recruitment Association's (ITCRA) Chief Executive Danika Bakalich it is imperative that the skilled migration programme is maintained to allow Australia's IT industry to grow and recruit more workers.
"We support the view that there is indeed a skills crisis in the ICT industry in Australia and believe that it does not make sense to put an end to a skilled migration program when there are occupational needs evident in the workplace," Ms Bakalich said.
The first two months of this year have seen a 20 per cent increase in the number of people applying for skills assessment in the technology department, to allow their foreign IT qualifications to be recognised in Australia.
Denham said IT professionals were in huge demand in "banking and commerce, the minerals processing and mining sectors, agriculture, primary, secondary and tertiary education, business, the environmental and energy sectors, manufacturing and media and entertainment".
A spokesperson from DIAC said they would be responding to requests from businesses to maintain a targeted skilled migration programme that focuses on bringing "medical and key IT professionals, engineers and construction trades."
Source: www.embraceaustralia.com
Sway of Gen Y workers on wane
OPINION: You won't find it in any news headlines, but it's worth noting New Zealand has the highest level of employment it has ever had.
Yes, that is correct. Statistics New Zealand figures show the number of people in work rose 0.9 per cent in the December 2008 quarter to 2.19 million people - the highest since the Household Labour Force Survey began.
Part-time employment grew by 17,000 people (3.5 per cent), with full time jobs up 6,000 (0.3 per cent). Of course, you're thinking, how could that be when companies have been retrenching in the current recession - 513 redundancies were announced last week alone in New Zealand.
The thing is unemployment is rising, too -4.3 per cent after seasonal adjustments in the December quarter, and that is climbing.
Despite that, the number of people in the labour force increased 31,000 (1.4 per cent) in the December quarter. All those part-time jobs have made a difference. And one reason for the jobless rise (and something that makes sense of the contradictory figures) is that the working age population was up 11,200 to 3.3 million in 2008 (partly because of a 2800 net migration gain) and the available labour force increased by 45,000 last year.
So even though there were more jobs, there were even more people looking for work.
This rising employment scenario may well change this year. The Government's Job Summit signals Prime Minister John Key certainly believes it will.
But emphasising the positive in the employment stats is good because it makes employers realise they still need to be thinking strategically about their workforce, because workers are crucial to success.
A downturn is a chance for employers to move from a mentality of ''fill those vacancies at all costs'' to ''who are the important people in my business and who aren't, and what am I going to do about that?''
One thing that came out strongly in research we did for our cover story this week about managing Generation Ys is that power is shifting in the workplace. It's transferring from workers to managers (and won't some employers sick to death of nurturing Gen Ys be smug about that).
But it's also shifting from younger workers to older ones. A 2008 report entitled Workplace 2012 New Zealand by human resources consultancy Mercer notes:
By 2012 workers aged 55 years and over will comprise more than 20 per cent of New Zealand's labour force, up from approximately 18 per cent in 2007-08. This means more than one in five workers will be aged 55 or older.
There will be almost an extra 100,000 workers aged 55 or more in the labour force, taking the total to more than half a million individuals.
The number of workers aged between 25 and 54 will grow by only 28,000, or less than 2 per cent on current numbers. This means workers aged 25-54 will make up a smaller percentage of the total labour force by 2012.
The increase between now and 2012 in the number of workers aged 55 or over in New Zealand's labour force will be 3 times bigger than that of those aged 25 to 54.
The participation rate of workers aged 55 to 59 will increase, from 79.6 per cent to 82.4 per cent. The participation rate of workers aged 60 to 64 will increase from 67.1 per cent to 75 per cent. The participation rate of workers aged 20 to 44 will decrease.
Although unemployment will rise in the short term, New Zealand's labour force is forecast to rise from 2.25 million to 2.38 million by 2012, close to a 6 per cent increase.
And the point of all those stats and the moral of the story?
''Employers need to shift their focus from how to attract and retain Generation Y to how they can capitalise on workers aged 55 or older, because workers aged 55 or older have to become the productivity drivers for New Zealand businesses in the immediate and longer-term future,'' according to the Mercer report.
It seems some employers are doing this already, but a downturn could exacerbate the trend.
HR consultants say clients are increasingly moving away from the ''bright young things'' mentality of the late 20th century and employing baby boomers, rather than Gen Y. The older workers are easier to manage, require ''less stroking'', don't need major upskilling, and tend not to be particularly ambitious for their next role. They can also be natural coaches for other members of the team.
Also, as hard times bite, having someone with smaller financial commitments (children left home, mortgages reduced) who will probably welcome being ''forced'' to work four days a week, will be a blessing to some companies.
Which leads to the issue of flexible working hours.
Could this economic downturn be the catalyst for radical workplace changes that advocates of work-life balance have been pushing with only limited success for years?
Bosses approached about four-day weeks or shorter working hours have tended to be unprepared to initiate the workplace reshuffle that would be needed.
But companies forced to ask employees to work shorter weeks to reduce costs may find that regime suits them pretty well after all, as well as the employee, even when the good times return.
By NIKKI MANDOW - The Independent
http://www.stuff.co.nz
*Nikki Mandow is The Independent's news editor.
Websites sell fake Aussie passports
http://www.business24-7.ae
By Shuchita Kapur on Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The total number of jobs lost in the country is not alarming and there are still many positions that need to be filled even today, say experts.
According to Stanton Chase, nearly 100,000 to 150,000 people have been out of jobs in the country since October 2008, excluding the labour class.
However, this is not a figure that should cause panic. According to Ian Giulianotti, Associate Director, HRM Consulting at Nadia Recruitment, the number of jobs lost in the country is not alarming. "Even if we go by the figure [100,000 to 150,000 since the beginning of October], it's not one that would cause me alarm. We see jobs being lost even during good times. There are people who are still hiring and there are jobs to be filled even today," he told Emirates Business.
"Yes, there is slowdown in recruitment and companies are going for options like unpaid leave and working for shorter hours for less money but the figure of jobs being completely wiped out is reasonable under the current circumstances," he further added.
Stanton Chase believes that people are concerned about their jobs. "People are very concerned on the job front and we would say that one out of two people are concerned about their jobs. This does not mean the fear of losing jobs alone, it also includes prospects about which way their company will go, how things will take shape and so on so forth," the company revealed.
As the market changes, expectations of candidates are also changing and becoming more realistic now. "Earlier the candidates just thought of changing a job and getting a 30 per cent hike. It takes a lot more persuasion/negotiation to make an employed candidate agree to take a hike of 10-15 per cent. But now we have more realistic figures… while changing a job and there is much more scope for negotiation between all the three parties – employers, candidates and recruitment experts," said Giulianotti.
"This is also a learning phase for candidates," says Stanton Chase. "Employees will be much more selective of the company they join when the economy is up and running. This is very relevant in a place like Dubai. Candidates will ask themselves questions before making a move. Unlike previous times, they will not limit themselves to the basic criteria of salary levels and living in Dubai. They will be assessing the company at the second level and what companies do now will be a part of their CV in the future," said Panos Manolopoulos, Managing Partner, Stanton Chase Middle East.
He also believes that companies, which opt for laying-off people unscrupulously may not be seen in good light in the future, when things become normal. Re-establishing brand strength after conducting large-scale downsizing is difficult, he says.
"Developing a brand is very difficult but very easy to destroy. Many construction companies have already destroyed their brand value and a company can possibly have the worst reputation if its employees think of it badly. These companies will face serious problems in the future. Things like 'Employer of the Year' and 'Best Company' are not accidental," he says.
Even though experts did not disclose the list of 'best companies to work for in the UAE', they believe that family-owned businesses are better in the current situation.
"There is no list that I can give you but I can say MNCs were considered the better option some time back as they invested in their people. But things are changing now and family-businesses seem the preferred lot," said Manolopoulos.
Experts believe that instead of just laying-off people to cut costs, companies should use this downturn to upgrade their talent.
According to Siobhan O'Reilly, Recruitment Manager of BAC Middle East, the current downturn has seen the balance shift towards the employer. "Those companies that are hiring or expanding are in a better position as they face less competition in the job market and may be able to attract candidates of a higher calibre as a result," she says.
Manolopoulos also believes that a downturn is a good time for companies to upgrade their talent. "Companies can upgrade talent at a lesser cost in times of crisis but this is dicey as those people, if paid less, can move out when the economic situation is better. I think the best way for a company is to look internally and see who's being over-paid and who's under-paid and take corrective measures. The mature companies can use this opportunity to upgrade talent and realign the packages of the employees with the market demands when things get back to normal," he adds.
Within the region, some companies are using the opportunity to upgrade their talent but most of the organisations are still reluctant to do so. "Some companies are looking at the current situation as an opportunity and are taking advantage of their greater bargaining power in the market. These firms still represent a minority though as many companies are still adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach," said O'Reilly.
Manolopoulos added: "It's more on the contrary as a lot of companies are on the sacking spree. Companies should evolve around internal talent and make investments in these people. Investment does not necessarily mean increasing salaries. It could be in the form of turning employees to partners. This is very relevant in the service industry. Then companies could make deals with employees for the future in the form of shares and bonuses and in some case employees can be given promotion sans money."
"A strong employer brand is also important for companies undertaking selective recruitment even as they cut personnel costs elsewhere. Using slowdowns to uncover and hire displaced talent is often fruitful. Studies have shown that although overall levels of recruitment may level off or even fall, the quality of workers hired rises in recessions. And opportunities to find and hire displaced talent may be particularly valuable during this downturn, as massive downsizing in the financial-services sector makes available to non-financial companies a large pool of highly educated and motivated professionals who previously might not have considered jobs outside their previous employers or industries," says a McKinsey report.
Redesigning jobs is a good way to keep the moral of the employees high in such situations. According to McKinsey, companies can maintain their attractiveness to internal and external talent by using cost-cutting efforts as an opportunity to redesign jobs so that they become more engaging for the people undertaking them.
"A job's level of responsibility, degree of autonomy, and span of control all contribute to employee satisfaction. Head count reductions provide a powerful incentive to use existing resources better by breaking down silos and increasing the span of control for challenging managerial roles – thus improving the odds of engaging key talent in the redesigned jobs," said McKinsey.
O'Reilly believes there are a number of approaches that organisations use in re-designing jobs. "[Company can] increase employee autonomy and responsibility; setting clear performance goals and link them to reward; training and development; job rotation/sharing. However, management needs to consider the motivations, goals and priorities of the individuals concerned as these can differ from person to person."
On the other hand, Manolopoulos thinks this is again a double-edged sword. "As companies are re-designing budgets they are also re-designing responsibilities. Most companies are now increasing responsibilities and decreasing head counts. Sometimes these moves may be good, especially for companies that have too much fat. They have more people than required and a period of downturn acts as a catalyst to re-design that. But sometimes that is bad for the employees as companies lay-off people and put the additional pressure on the remaining ones and at times such things are not even discussed in their contract letters," he says.
In addition to redesigning roles, companies cutting jobs should carefully protect training and development programmes, when essential. "It really depends on the commercial and financial position of the entity concerned. Training and development are important in the long-term, but the first priority of management must always be the financial stability of the organisation. In the current climate it is inevitable that every area of company expenditure is going to be carefully scrutinised," says O'Reilly.
"Cutting costs on training, development and HR is number one priority for companies when they are faced with a crisis. Training can become a luxury in a downturn but it is important for the development of people. Cutting training costs is inevitable in such situations. Firms should continue with training programmes that are vital but the not-so-important ones can wait," adds Manolopoulos.
By Shuchita Kapur on Wednesday, March 11, 2009
The total number of jobs lost in the country is not alarming and there are still many positions that need to be filled even today, say experts.
According to Stanton Chase, nearly 100,000 to 150,000 people have been out of jobs in the country since October 2008, excluding the labour class.
However, this is not a figure that should cause panic. According to Ian Giulianotti, Associate Director, HRM Consulting at Nadia Recruitment, the number of jobs lost in the country is not alarming. "Even if we go by the figure [100,000 to 150,000 since the beginning of October], it's not one that would cause me alarm. We see jobs being lost even during good times. There are people who are still hiring and there are jobs to be filled even today," he told Emirates Business.
"Yes, there is slowdown in recruitment and companies are going for options like unpaid leave and working for shorter hours for less money but the figure of jobs being completely wiped out is reasonable under the current circumstances," he further added.
Stanton Chase believes that people are concerned about their jobs. "People are very concerned on the job front and we would say that one out of two people are concerned about their jobs. This does not mean the fear of losing jobs alone, it also includes prospects about which way their company will go, how things will take shape and so on so forth," the company revealed.
As the market changes, expectations of candidates are also changing and becoming more realistic now. "Earlier the candidates just thought of changing a job and getting a 30 per cent hike. It takes a lot more persuasion/negotiation to make an employed candidate agree to take a hike of 10-15 per cent. But now we have more realistic figures… while changing a job and there is much more scope for negotiation between all the three parties – employers, candidates and recruitment experts," said Giulianotti.
"This is also a learning phase for candidates," says Stanton Chase. "Employees will be much more selective of the company they join when the economy is up and running. This is very relevant in a place like Dubai. Candidates will ask themselves questions before making a move. Unlike previous times, they will not limit themselves to the basic criteria of salary levels and living in Dubai. They will be assessing the company at the second level and what companies do now will be a part of their CV in the future," said Panos Manolopoulos, Managing Partner, Stanton Chase Middle East.
He also believes that companies, which opt for laying-off people unscrupulously may not be seen in good light in the future, when things become normal. Re-establishing brand strength after conducting large-scale downsizing is difficult, he says.
"Developing a brand is very difficult but very easy to destroy. Many construction companies have already destroyed their brand value and a company can possibly have the worst reputation if its employees think of it badly. These companies will face serious problems in the future. Things like 'Employer of the Year' and 'Best Company' are not accidental," he says.
Even though experts did not disclose the list of 'best companies to work for in the UAE', they believe that family-owned businesses are better in the current situation.
"There is no list that I can give you but I can say MNCs were considered the better option some time back as they invested in their people. But things are changing now and family-businesses seem the preferred lot," said Manolopoulos.
Experts believe that instead of just laying-off people to cut costs, companies should use this downturn to upgrade their talent.
According to Siobhan O'Reilly, Recruitment Manager of BAC Middle East, the current downturn has seen the balance shift towards the employer. "Those companies that are hiring or expanding are in a better position as they face less competition in the job market and may be able to attract candidates of a higher calibre as a result," she says.
Manolopoulos also believes that a downturn is a good time for companies to upgrade their talent. "Companies can upgrade talent at a lesser cost in times of crisis but this is dicey as those people, if paid less, can move out when the economic situation is better. I think the best way for a company is to look internally and see who's being over-paid and who's under-paid and take corrective measures. The mature companies can use this opportunity to upgrade talent and realign the packages of the employees with the market demands when things get back to normal," he adds.
Within the region, some companies are using the opportunity to upgrade their talent but most of the organisations are still reluctant to do so. "Some companies are looking at the current situation as an opportunity and are taking advantage of their greater bargaining power in the market. These firms still represent a minority though as many companies are still adopting a 'wait-and-see' approach," said O'Reilly.
Manolopoulos added: "It's more on the contrary as a lot of companies are on the sacking spree. Companies should evolve around internal talent and make investments in these people. Investment does not necessarily mean increasing salaries. It could be in the form of turning employees to partners. This is very relevant in the service industry. Then companies could make deals with employees for the future in the form of shares and bonuses and in some case employees can be given promotion sans money."
"A strong employer brand is also important for companies undertaking selective recruitment even as they cut personnel costs elsewhere. Using slowdowns to uncover and hire displaced talent is often fruitful. Studies have shown that although overall levels of recruitment may level off or even fall, the quality of workers hired rises in recessions. And opportunities to find and hire displaced talent may be particularly valuable during this downturn, as massive downsizing in the financial-services sector makes available to non-financial companies a large pool of highly educated and motivated professionals who previously might not have considered jobs outside their previous employers or industries," says a McKinsey report.
Redesigning jobs is a good way to keep the moral of the employees high in such situations. According to McKinsey, companies can maintain their attractiveness to internal and external talent by using cost-cutting efforts as an opportunity to redesign jobs so that they become more engaging for the people undertaking them.
"A job's level of responsibility, degree of autonomy, and span of control all contribute to employee satisfaction. Head count reductions provide a powerful incentive to use existing resources better by breaking down silos and increasing the span of control for challenging managerial roles – thus improving the odds of engaging key talent in the redesigned jobs," said McKinsey.
O'Reilly believes there are a number of approaches that organisations use in re-designing jobs. "[Company can] increase employee autonomy and responsibility; setting clear performance goals and link them to reward; training and development; job rotation/sharing. However, management needs to consider the motivations, goals and priorities of the individuals concerned as these can differ from person to person."
On the other hand, Manolopoulos thinks this is again a double-edged sword. "As companies are re-designing budgets they are also re-designing responsibilities. Most companies are now increasing responsibilities and decreasing head counts. Sometimes these moves may be good, especially for companies that have too much fat. They have more people than required and a period of downturn acts as a catalyst to re-design that. But sometimes that is bad for the employees as companies lay-off people and put the additional pressure on the remaining ones and at times such things are not even discussed in their contract letters," he says.
In addition to redesigning roles, companies cutting jobs should carefully protect training and development programmes, when essential. "It really depends on the commercial and financial position of the entity concerned. Training and development are important in the long-term, but the first priority of management must always be the financial stability of the organisation. In the current climate it is inevitable that every area of company expenditure is going to be carefully scrutinised," says O'Reilly.
"Cutting costs on training, development and HR is number one priority for companies when they are faced with a crisis. Training can become a luxury in a downturn but it is important for the development of people. Cutting training costs is inevitable in such situations. Firms should continue with training programmes that are vital but the not-so-important ones can wait," adds Manolopoulos.
Websites sell fake Aussie passports
http://aap.com.au/WEBSITES are selling fake state-of-the-art Australian passports for as little as $1250, boasting they'll pass the most rigorous border checks.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says the sites are just another money-making scam but admit they are "the subject of ongoing discussions'' with Australian Federal Police.
DFAT also warns that people who use such documents are guilty of a serious criminal offence.
One of the sites boasts it is a unique producer of quality fake documents.
"We offer only original high-quality fake passports, driver's licences, ID cards, stamps and other products for following countries: Australia, UK, USA,'' the site says.
Sample pictures of a blank Australian passport show where buyers' personal details will be entered after supplying a digital photo, signature and other particulars.
The site asks for 750 euros ($1500) to be sent in instalments to Chisinau, Moldova via money order services, Western Union or money gram.
Australian passports on another site cost $US800 ($1250).
The website operator said via email that their passports would "successfully pass all existing tests, like UV-test, MRZ (Machine Readable Zone) check, machine check and so on''.
"In fact we haven't got any complaints from our customers on the problems with customs, airports or any other law authorities during travelling.
"`We also provide (the ability) to affix almost all kind of stamps into the passports to make you feel more confident.''
A DFAT spokesperson said making false or misleading statements in connection with Australian travel documents was a serious criminal offence.
The websites in question were the subject of ongoing discussions with Australian Federal Police.
"Websites that offer access to genuine Australian passports are typically scams, as all applications must be submitted through official channels and are subject to ... (a) highly secure issue integrity process,'' the spokesperson said.
"Australian passport documents are among the most technically advanced and secure in the world.''
But as Australia's passport security measures improve so too do the scammers.
An Australian Immigration Department spokesperson said intercepting travellers using fraudulent passports was part of Australia's layered approach to border security.
"Effective document examination is a cornerstone of good border security,'' the spokesperson said.
"Knowing how to spot a fake passport is crucial to maintaining the integrity of Australia's border.''
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