A company should not keep an employee's passport for any extended legth of time, that is just wrong, and anyone who does it is a crook ( IMHO )

Exactly. I'd imagine Aussie passports technically belong to HM and Australian govt, much the same as UK passports belong to HM and the UK govt. I always used this very point against anyone who tried to keep my passport, it is in practice, not even my property...I just have a duty to look after it and report it's loss/replace if and when necessary.

What is GW mentality SB, just curious mate?

And the public unis are sadly becoming a joke, I long gave up doing serious teaching in those kind of jobs, the students seemed happier to watch DVD's or mess around with mobiles than follow the boring coursebooks...