A Data Matching Programme between the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is now gazetted DIBP share data with ATO.pdf.

Information that will be provided to the ATO by the Department of Immigration will be:

• names
• addresses
• details of visa holders, 
• sponsors
• migration agents

Data will come from the financial years ending  2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

For all joint MA-MIA members please find the following Notice to MIA Branch Candidates 2015 from the AEC.  Please also find the names of nominees list below.

MIGRATION ALLIANCE SUPPORTS "TOP PERFORMER" MARK GLAZBROOK FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PRESIDENT OF THE MIA

The following is the statement provided to Migration Alliance for release, by nominee Mark Glazbrook:

 …..”the purpose of PIC 4020 (is) to render visa applicants ultimately responsible for the veracity of the information and documents supplied in support of the application….the Applicant is not absolved from responsibility because he left everything up to his agent”.

How often have we heard this type of pronouncement from the courts?

And how often have we seen fact patterns where visa applicants have “left everything” up to their agents, only to discover to their misfortune that, without the applicant’s knowledge, the agent has submitted  either a bogus document or information that is false or misleading in a material particular, causing the application to “run afoul” of PIC 4020?

The top brass of the Australian Border Force (ABF) has publically apologised for the bungled “Operation Fortitude’ on a ‘clumsily worded” media release indicating that there was no intention to randomly check the visa status of whoever the ABF officers came across. In contrast, internal emails obtained by the ABC show that ABF officers actually planned to conduct ‘status checks’.

DIBP has gone into damage control again. Just after Secretary of Immigration Michael Pezzullo and Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg both publically apologised for the "clumsily worded" media release that led to public outcry and protest against ABFs attempt to conduct illegal visa checks on August 20 this year, the ABC's 7.30 Report has discovered documents showing that six ABF officers were to conduct "status checks" at two taxi ranks, speaking with members of the public who they suspected could be in Australia illegally and without a valid visa.

Facing a Senate Committee, Mr Pezzullo seemed to brush off the saga as an over-reaction from the media and the public for an honest mistake. He told the senate estimates committee that "It is clear that the media release issued that morning was very badly worded and gave rise to the impression that the ABF has general powers of questioning people in the street. It does not, and I apologise for the impression that was wrongly created.

"We certainly don't rely on racial profiling at all" said Secretary of Immigration Michael Pezzullo.

However, the ABC has discovered that talking points and the associated media release were approved within a number of levels with the final version reaching the Minister’s office. The internal documents obtained by the ABC describe the role of ABF officers as being "positioned at various locations within the Melbourne CBD, speaking to individuals who we suspect may be in Australia illegally without a current and valid visa".

The points said if officers were asked by journalists who they would target they should reply: "We will be speaking with any individual we cross paths with."