Australian Immigration Daily News

The purpose of the amending instrument, LIN 20/189, is to amend LIN 19/216 to ensure that LIN 19/216, amongst other things, exempts certain applicants of the Subclass 186 and Subclass 187 visas in the Temporary Residence Transition stream from having to satisfy the age requirement at the time of application. Currently, under regulation 186.221 or 187.221 of Schedule 2 to the Regulations, an applicant for these visas must not have turned 45 at the time of their application.

However, subsections 6(1) and 7(1) of LIN 19/216 provides that applicants are exempt from satisfying this age requirement if they fall in a specified class of persons. One such class is Subclass 457/482 workers, which is defined in section 5 of LIN 19/216. A Subclass 457/482 worker is defined as a person who, after having worked for the nominating employer for 3 years, has had earnings equal to, or greater than, the high income threshold for each of the three years prior to making their application for a visa that this instrument applies to.

Source: LIN-20189.pdf

IMMI 18/052 operates to:
- provide that "specified person" means a person who, on 18 April 2017, held a Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled)) visa (Subclass 457 visa), or was an applicant for a Subclass 457 visa that was subsequently granted; and
- provide that these specified persons are specified for the purposes of subparagraph 5.19(5)(a)(iii) of the Regulations; and
- determine different periods of time for the purposes of paragraphs 5.19(5)(e), (f) and (g) of the Regulations for specified persons; and
- exempt specified persons from the operation of paragraph 5.19(5)(c) of the Regulations.

Source: LIN-20190.pdf

Migration Alliance received the following email from VETASSSESS:

The Migration Advice Industry Advisory Group met today at 11AM, online via WebEx.

Many ideas and opinions about the future shape of the Migration Profession were discussed under Chatham House Rules.

Migration Alliance will not be publishing details of the meeting on this website as the documents discussed have been classified OFFICIAL: SENSITIVE.

Whilst Australian businesses may be starting to get back to normal, for many industries like the migration sector, COVID-19 has had a significant financial impact, something which will be continued to be felt until the borders start to re-open. 

With reduced cashflow it may be tempting to cut costs where possible, including cancelling or reducing your Professional Indemnity cover, particularly if you aren’t doing much work.  However, there are a number of very good reasons*  to hold onto your cover and to maintain  it with a reputable insurer.

1. Don’t risk your registration as having no cover or even an inadequate level of cover means you may not be registered to practice. Currently at a minimum you are required to hold $250,000 of Professional Indemnity Insurance. 

1. Mistakes from the past can cost you dearly.  Regardless of when you did the work, you are still liable for any mistakes that may have occurred months or even years ago. Your Professional Indemnity policy will provide cover on  a claims made basis (meaning it is triggered by when the claim is made against you) and once it is cancelled, there may not be  protection for any work conducted in the past. 

1. Insurance can cover more than the direct costs related to a claim.  Some policies extend to covering the fees and costs that relate to investigations and determinations made by official bodies, like OMARA.

Having reputable cover doesn’t need to break the bank.   BizCover currently offers a 28% discount for Migration Alliance members when purchasing Professional Indemnity insurance. Simply use the Promo Code MABIZ001 when prompted at the checkout.