Former State President and National Board Member of the Migration Institute of Australia Mark Glazbrook has called for the introduction of  a two-tier RMA registration scheme, whereby, “migration agents that meet the necessary criteria …would be granted a higher level of accreditation than their peers, and extended streamlined processing rights that make it more attractive for applicants to engage their services,” according to a recent report on the “In Business South Australia” website: http://www.in-business.com.au/news/story/2014-8-12/18852

The report states that the partnership would be similar to the model recently proposed in New Zealand, with responsibility for visa application processing shared between government and approved industry representatives.

The Migration Alliance cannot agree with this proposal. There are currently over 5000 RMAs. The proposed scheme mocks the effectiveness of the MARA Code of Conduct which in essence is meant to put registered practitioners on a similar playing field in order to provide competitive, accessible and professional services to a diverse range of people. However, the MA is not against experienced practitioners being granted ‘Specialist Accreditation’ as is the case currently with Lawyers with the various state law institutes.

MA believes that the big issue that must be addressed is unregistered practice. This must be the focus at present given all the media hype about widespread rorting of Australia’s immigration system. Once unregistered practices is minimised or better still stopped, then perhaps a system whereby applications lodged by experienced registered practitioners are allowed streamlined processing ahead of direct public applications ought to be considered.

Liana Allan of the Migration Alliance says, “The department of immigration must develop a partnership of trust with the migration advisory industry. DIBP must recognise the professionalism of registered practitioners and not mock the entire OMARA registration system by dealing with RMAs in the same light as applications from the general public.

Thousands of jobs are in demand with roles like Carpenters, Plumbers, Electrical Mechanics, Electrical Trades Assistants, Crane Operators, Riggers, Doggers, Formworkers, Pipelayers, and Concretors expected to lead the occupation list for the estimated 4-year construction phase of the massive $34 billion Ichthy gas project in the Northern Territory.

The list which is yet to be finalised is expected to include these jobs that are currently in demand by the project. (http://iminco.net/3500-nt-jobs-ichthys-gas-project-darwin/). In addition to this, support services jobs like retail managers, bus drivers, restaurant supervisors, plant operators and chefs may be considered for the list in the "designated area migration agreement".

According to the Australian Financial Review, the Northern Territory is set to be approved under the first so-called “designated area migration agreement” followed by Western Australia’s Pilbara.

The agreements are designed to free up businesses outside the resources industry to hire semi-skilled workers without having to meet the strict language, salary and training requirement of other migration programs.

A spokesman for Assistant Immigration Minister Michaelia Cash said the Territory agreement would be in place shortly and the Pilbara deal “should be in place by the end of the year”.

A former DIBP official and her husband who were involved in a $3 million visa racket were allowed to flee the country with more than $1 million in the bank days after their home was raided by federal agents. Reetika Ajjan, a former DIBP employee, is accused of supplying government information and equipment to an illegal racket run by her husband Jeetender, which resulted in more than 1,000 fraudulent visa applications, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

A police raid at the couple's house in October 2011 turned up almost $500,000 in cash, which was enough to charge the couple. But Mr and Ms Ajjan were able to flee the country because the Immigration Department failed to seize passports or ensure a criminal charge was laid quickly.

The couple were also able to wire $1.2 million to India in the days after the raid and before they fled to India.

Secret briefings from the Immigration Department, obtained by the Sydney Morning Herald, reported that investigators thought Ms Ajjan should be charged for dealing ‘with proceeds of crime of a value exceeding $100,000', which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in jail.

Ms Ajjan and her husband are now living in Delhi and Australian authorities are attempting to recover the $1.2 million she transferred to India, which is believed to be the proceeds of crime, but the Australian Federal Police has indicated the money may be difficult to recover.

As the media sieves through hundreds of leaked documents and reports covering the period between 2008 and 2013, more allegations of visa fraud and the department’s inability to deal with it have emerged. With the budget cuts and the merger of the Immigration and Customs, which will result in fewer staff managing the already crippled system, things are likely to get worse.

Here are some of the allegations highlighted in the reports:

• As many as nine in 10 skilled migrant visas may be fraudulent. Fraud within the General Skilled Migration program is extensive with estimates at around 90 per cent [or] more than 40,000 suspect visa applications lodged per year for the last three years''.
• More than 90 per cent of Afghan cases in 2012 contained "fraud of some type" and raised "people smuggling, identity fraud, suspected child trafficking and national security implications".
• A Somali people-smuggling cell operated in Melbourne linked to terrorist suspect Hussein Hashi Farah, who "is believed to have links to the al-Qaeda offshoot al-Shabab" and who fled Kenyan counterterrorism officials using an Australian passport in 2010. But the departmental file shows that a 2009 investigation into the cell's activities was "deemed low priority and ceased due to a lack of resources".
• There is an organised immigration crime network consisting of a facilitator with suspected Pakistan terrorist links, along with "migration agents, employers and education providers. Fairfax Media has confirmed this network was never properly probed, allowing many of its members - including federal government licensed agents - to continue to operate.
• Tens of thousands of immigration fraudsters are living freely after being assisted by migration crime networks exploiting weaknesses in working, student, family and humanitarian visa programs, including loopholes that have left the department sometimes ''generating the fraud''.
• The department is ''responsible for granting a record number of student visas to people who may not be considered genuine students as well as granting permanent residence to skilled migration applicants who do not have the appropriate skills being claimed''.

In 2013, department chiefs were warned in a confidential report that the agency's investigations arm had collapsed, risking ''the integrity of its programs and ultimately national security''. Immigration Department insiders have warned that investigation failures are set to worsen with the merger of the Immigration and Customs departments into a ''border force'' in 2015 because of corresponding budget cuts, and uncertainty as the new agency ''finds its feet''.

Having failed in its first application for a labour agreement 18 months ago, “ethno-specific” aged care provider Fronditha Care has now been given the green light to sponsor 60 overseas personal care workers in the first such agreement to be struck with the Federal Government, according to a report by the Australian Ageing Agenda.

The three-year labour agreement, which had union backing, will allow the Victorian provider to recruit Greek-speaking care workers under the same wages and conditions as local employees.Under the terms of the deal, the overseas workers will need to have a Cert III in Aged Care attained locally and an English language competency of 5 in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Fronditha chief executive George Lekakis told Australian Ageing Agenda the deal would allow some of the organisation’s Greek-speaking workers currently employed on a student visa, which permits them to work 20 hours per week, to be transferred to full-time employment on a four-year visa.

Former staff that have returned to Greece will also be recruited back to the organisation under this program to help meet the communication needs of residents, he said.

“The care workers will be offered an annualised salary of over $54,000 and health insurance for each year of the labour agreement,” said Mr Lekakis. The organisation can recruit up to 20 overseas care workers per year under the deal.