MA has made several attempts in the recent past to alert its members about pdtraining’s offer of paying referral commissions to RMAs through a debit card option.  

The concerns of MA was also brought to the attention of pdtraining.  

A tax and legal advice from Sydney Accredited Specialist tax lawyer, David Garde of Brown Wright Stein, was also made available to MA members to keep them informed and to restrain them from using pdtraining’s GST DEFEASANCE SCHEME.  Following our proactive approach, even MIA had withdrawn its endorsement of pdtraining’s offer and stopped endorsing pdtraining as their sponsor.  This was evident from MIA’s ‘Member Benefits and Discounts Newsletter ’.  Though MIA did not publicly admit the error, MIA has stopped promoting this deal which was deemed dangerous for its members and other RMAs working in the industry.

Natalie O'Brien has published this article today:

http://m.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/secret-blacklist-of-immigration-lawyers-20140503-37oyw.html

You may recall that Migration Alliance raised the issue of the A and B list of migration agents on March 12, 2014. In that article I had been in communication with the DIBP.  To read that article including the terrible information about Lists A and B of migration agents please click here:

The Migration Alliance is wondering whether OMARA is carrying out it's decisions in light of the decision of the AAT in the case of Asif Syed. The AAT found that an applicant for registration as a migration agent requires an IELTS test band score of 7 in each band but this can be just one of the factors which MARA must consider.

The Migration Alliance wants to know whether MARA is ignoring this instruction by still insisting that an English language proficiency test such as IELTS can only be considered as proof of an applicant’s English language proficiency.

If new applicants would like to create a letter to the Office of the MARA the following paragraph might be added (the paragraph is a creation of Michael Suss RMA):

It's been a while now and I am wondering what agents think about the LegendCOM and the LexisNexis Professional Library subscription products. 

I note that the LexisNexis professional library is being plugged heavily across the profession at the moment.

In my professional opinion, and in the opinion of the agents that work directly with me, we believe that the LegendCOM product is far superior to the LexisNexis product.

Australia’s current visa regime is starving the design and construction industries of engineering talent, severely impeding future infrastructure development and adding to the high costs of business in Australia, reports the engineering journal Sourceable.

A leading industry body, Consult Australia, has warned that the country’s current visa regime could hamper infrastructure development by depriving employers of much needed engineering talent.

Consult Australia says changes to outdated visa regulations are urgently needed given the critical role that skilled migration plays in supplying the country with qualified engineers.

“Robust skilled migration programs are essential to the health of engineering-based companies and the Australian economy as a whole,” said Megan Motto, CEO Consult Australia.

Speaking to the industry journal, Sourceable, Ms Motto noted that in addition to “the high cost of doing business” in Australia, there is a “chronic workforce supply issues” arising from the cyclical nature of employment demand as one of the most besetting  problems affecting the country’s infrastructure design sector.