What type of conduct can land an RMA in hot water with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (“OMARA”)? 

This is an issue that should be of interest and concern to all RMAs!

Under section 303 of the Migration Act, OMARA has the power to caution an RMA or to suspend or even cancel her or his registration. This power can be exercised when an agent’s application for registration is known to be false or misleading in a material particular; the agent becomes bankrupt; or the OMARA finds that the agent is not a person of integrity or is otherwise not a fit and proper person to give immigration assistance. 

Masters degree students at the University of Sydney's prestigious business school may have to undergo a compulsory English language course after the university revealed that more than 400 students, mainly from China, failed core units of their masters’ degree.

About 37 per cent of the 1,200 students studying the Critical Thinking in Business course were given a fail grade after the first semester, and about 12 per cent of students in the Succeeding in Business course also failed, according to a report on the ABC.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has weighed into the stoush between the university and the group of students who complained that the university did not prepare them properly for the course.

NTEU president Jeanie Rae said universities should resist pressure to pass under-performing students, but in this case their treatment seemed unfair.

"I think the university needs to be much more honest about it, to me holding an exam at the end of a course and then wiping the students off after they've already paid their money to me seems quite cynical...If the students needed greater language skills, why were these students let in and given places if there were real doubts about their capacity to successfully complete?" she said.

University of Sydney Business School Deputy Dean (Education), Professor John Shields, however said English was not the only reason some Chinese students struggled with the course.

Its done it again, and now achieving a near perfect score in the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) liveability survey of 140 cities.

Just 2.5 points off perfection, the city of Melbourne despite its unpredictable weather, has topped the EIU’s list beating the likes of Vienna, Vancouver and Toronto.

Adelaide came in fifth with a score of 96.6. Seven of the top 10 scoring cities were in Australia and Canada. Sydney came in seventh place behind Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with 96.1. It lost out to Adelaide and Melbourne due to its lower score for culture and environment, and stability.

Perth was ranked ninth with 95.9, and Auckland, New Zealand, rounded out the top 10 with 95.7. Helsinki, Finland, took eighth place.

"Those that score best tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density," the EIU report said adding that, “These can foster a range of recreational activities without leading to high crime levels or overburdened infrastructure."

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said his government plans to maintain Melbourne’s top spot pointing to the promised investment of some 25.4 billion into the Melbourne economy to particularly improve transport infrastructure. "Melbourne has the best of everything and this title proves it…Perfect scores in health care, education and infrastructure, culture, environment and sport are all proof there's no place like Victoria," he said.

INVITATION

Investment strategy in the new SIV policy regime

NAB Wealth, a part of NAB Group, provides holistic investment solutions to retail, corporate and institutional clients. It operates the largest financial advisor platform in Australia under brands MLC, JBWere, JANA and Plum.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) has started giving effect to the decision in SZOXP where the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that, “there is no requirement that the couple previously live together in the definition of a “de facto relationship” or in the requirement that the couple “do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis” prior to lodging an application for a Partner Visa.

In what looks to be the first AAT case on the matter, the Tribunal reviewed a decision by the delegate to refuse the grant of a partner visa to a Sri Lankan applicant on the basis that the delegate was not satisfied that there was sufficient evidence that the parties had been living together.

The case involved a same-sex couple who admitted that they had not set up a household together as such and had not lived together as de facto partners.

In its decision to remit the application to the delegate for reconsideration, the Tribunal first observed that given societal attitudes and the laws criminalising same sex unions in Sri Lanka, the 12-month de facto requirement ought to have been waived in any case on the basis of ‘compelling and compassionate reasons’.

The Tribunal then went on to give effect to the Full Federal Court’s decision in SZOXP v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection FCAFC 69 (11 June 2015) which held that: