Please find today's response from the Office of the MARA regarding the monitoring of RMAs:

"Thank you for your email of 13 March 2015 to the Office of the Hon Michaelia Cash concerning monitoring activities being conducted by the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA).  I have been requested to reply on her behalf.

As you are aware, the OMARA undertakes monitoring as part of its consumer protection mandate and in its role as regulator of professional standards for registered migration agents. Monitoring the conduct of registered migration agents is one of the OMARA’s functions under S.316 of the Migration Act 1958 and S.317 provides the authority to do all things necessarily or conveniently done for, or in connection with, the performance of its functions.

Hugh Ford, Immigration Solicitor, kicks off as a CPD presenter in 2015 with his debut in Canberra on 10 April 2015.

Legal Training Australia has managed to secure Hugh Ford as one of their speaking talents and is very excited to have him on board as part of the team.  Hugh joins Christopher Levingston and Michael Jeremy as one of LTA's permanent  CPD speakers.   Mr Ford is currently planning to take trips to other cities across Australia to educate RMAs.

Hugh Ford attended Sydney Grammar. He then attended the Australian National University where he completed a degree in Arts/Law. He then completed a Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies and Public Law at the ANU. More recently, Mr Ford completed a Masters Degree in Law at the University of North Queensland.

Mr Ford also worked for 16 years in the Department of Immigration in the Litigation, Legal Policy and Privacy Area.

Mr Ford is a keen runner. He is also a DJ on the weekends as a hobby.

The government is expected to announce today that it is adopting most of the recommendations of last year's independent review of the sc457 visa program, with particular emphasis on prosecuting employers for breaching sponsorship obligations, according to The Australian.

The Liberal government is tightening checks on the sc457 temporary worker visa with the introduction of various measures including the introduction of penalties and the sharing of data with the Australian Taxation Office, to ensure overseas workers receive their nominated salary and are not undercutting Australian jobs, reports the Australian

 “We will proactively prosecute and name and shame offenders exploiting overseas workers and misusing the program,’’ the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Michaelia Cash, said.

Senator Cash said the economic and productivity benefits of a well-managed overseas worker program are significant, yet understated, and blamed the former Labour government for mismanaging the program and causing community confidence in its value and integrity to be undermined.

Aiming to restore confidence in the program, the recommendations the government is adopting will include increased focus on targeting employers who seek to misuse the program, introducing greater transparency around the department’s sanctions processes and the sharing of information between key agencies.

The Australian reports that Senator Cash will confirm today that the government will not remove the current labour-market testing arrangements that require businesses to test ­employment markets first to find domestic skilled workers before turning to the 457 visa program.

Ms Dora Chin Tan (pictured far left) is now the acting CEO of the Office of the MARA.

Please scroll down to the bottom of the DIBP's top structure chart to view her name and position:

http://www.immi.gov.au/About/Documents/portfolio-structure-chart-02032015.pdf

All visas that are issued for “temporary skilled employment” in Australia, familiarly known as “457 visas” include a Condition 8107 which provides that the holder of such a visa must not cease employment for a period of more than 90 consecutive days. A breach of this condition can lead to cancellation of the visa under section 116 of the Migration Act.  And the effect of the cancellation of the primary visa holder’s 457 visa can result in the consequent cancellation of the visa entitlements of members of the visa holder’s family unit (spouse/partner and children) by “operation of law” under section 140 of the Act.

A case that was recently heard before the Migration Review Tribunal – 1417329 (2015) MRTA 150 – (decided on 4 February 2015) illustrates how the cancellation power may be exercised by the Department. The decision also provides some guidance on the kinds of evidence that may be put forward to avoid the cancellation on “discretionary grounds” (either in recent to a notice of intended cancellation that has been issued by the Department or in the context of an appeal against visa cancellation taken to the MRT).

The circumstances of the case were that the visa holder, a citizen of Bangladesh, had been granted a 457 visa to work in Australia as an accountant. Her husband and two young children accompanied her to Australia. The visa holder began work with her “standard business sponsor” in January 2013. However, the sponsoring company went into liquidation in October 2013, and, consequently, the visa holder stopped working for the sponsor. She did not immediately begin looking for new employment with a different sponsor, as the owner of her original sponsoring employer had assured her that he was planning to establish a new business and that he would re-employ her in that business.