The following email has been received by Liana Allan of Migration Alliance today:

"Thank you for your email of Wednesday 2 September where you sought information about the OMARA.  The 2014  Review of the OMARA recommended that the OMARA be fully integrated back into the Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

This integration was completed with effect from 1 July 2015 and the OMARA now sits in the Visa and Citizenship Services Group of the Department which reports to the Secretary of the Department. The OMARA now reports directly to Ms Mary-Jane Jones, Regional Director NSW/ACT.

It will come as no surprise to RMAs that the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (formerly the Migration Review Tribunal) is, like all human institutions, capable of making mistakes and, on the basis of those mistakes, “getting things wrong” and reaching a determination that is adverse to a visa applicant, when in fact the evidence should have led to a positive outcome in favour of the applicant. In fact, I can already hear a chorus of readers saying either "Amen!!!" or "For heaven's sake Michael, don't you think we all know that already!!!"

One can only be extremely thankful that the Federal courts exist in order to correct erroneous decisions by the AAT when they occur.  However, as will also be well known to RMAs, there is only very limited scope to challenge an incorrect factual finding by the AAT, as judicial review proceedings are generally limited to an assessment of whether the Tribunal has made a “jurisdictional error”:  for example, failing to have regard to a relevant matter,  assigning weight to irrelevant matter, or making an error of law.

Indeed, the limited scope of judicial review can cause one to wonder about the fundamental fairness and appropriateness of the hearing procedures at the AAT.  Granted, the AAT has a heavy case load that it must work its way through. But even accepting that is the case, should an RMA/migration lawyer really be required to “sit silently” at a Tribunal hearing and not be allowed to make oral submissions at the close of the hearing to direct the Tribunal member’s attention to matters of importance that are critical to the outcome of the case?

Farmers and backpackers are angry that the department of immigration has suddenly brought forward its decision by several months and without any consultation to stop recognising volunteer work for the purposes extending the sc417 working holiday visa.

The ban which came into effect on 31 August 2015, disallows the counting of volunteer work as part of the 88 days of work required to extend the sc417 visa by a year. The DIBP said the ban was necessary to stop the alleged widespread abuse of the sc417 visa programme.

Producers involved in the Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) scheme are however angry with DIBP sudden decision to implement the change which was announced in May this year with an expected date of implementation set to be in or about December.

“It's virtually shut down our ability to provide food to our local community in the quantity and the standard that we've been doing….We were of the understanding several months ago that the Assistant Minister [for Immigration and Border Protection] wouldn't make a decision until Christmas time or roughly around Christmas time," said Mike Smith, Solum Farm, Mororo – a New South Wales north coast organic farm.

"So we told all our young people 'so this is what's going to happen, we're going to push to make sure it doesn't happen but in the interim it gets you right through until Christmas, so finish your 88 days because they've said that's okay'.

WWOOF essentially link backpackers to organic farmers by giving them the opportunity to work on Australian organic farms, exchanging 4 - 6 hours work per day for meals and accommodation, usually in the farmer’s family home.

A few people have rung the OMARA on 1300 226 272 today.  One of those was an RMA.

Both times when the OMARA was asked who their CEO was, they said they had none.  They also responded that Dora Chin Tan (previous Acting CEO) is no longer the Acting CEO and has gone to work in Canberra at the DIBP. 

On a telephone call to the above number at 4:20om AEST today, an RMA (who does not wish to be named), spoke to Brad at the OMARA.  

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is concerned about departing sc457 visa workers and foreign students being targeted by tax fraudsters and therefore intends to undertake detailed investigations of DIBP records to identify the fraudsters, according to a report in The Courier-Mail.

It is reported that given the concern, the ATO will be sieving through the department of immigration’s databases under the data matching program to “detect, and deal with compliance risks within the visa holding population.”

An earlier report by the ATO indicated that, “Data from DIBP will be used in ATO risk detection models to select populations for administrative action relating to tax return integrity, income tax and goods and services tax non-compliance and fraud.”

According to that report, based on those identified risks, the ATO intends to acquire visa information for visas granted in the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2015 and future periods between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2017. This means previously acquired data for the period 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2014 will be refreshed in the new table structure in an effort to take advantage of opportunities with new risk detection models.

The report was scant and did not say if the main concern was over money laundering by organised criminal gangs or just the underpayment of taxes by businesses.