Australian Immigration Daily News

Purpose of the bill

The bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 10 December 2020 by the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Peter Dutton MP. In his Second Reading Speech, the minister explained the purpose of the bill and its provisions to amend the Migration Act 1958 (Migration Act):

Criminal intelligence and related information is vital to assessing the criminal background and associations of non-citizen visa applicants and visa holders. The measures in this bill will ensure that sensitive information – disclosed in confidence by law enforcement and intelligence agencies – is appropriately protected.

Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs, Alex Hawke, has issued a new Ministerial Direction to guide decision-makers applying the character test. The character test applies to certain visa cancellation and refusal decisions, as well as the revocation of mandatory visa cancellations.

This direction reinforces the Government’s intolerance for family violence by requiring decision-makers to consider family violence as a primary consideration when making visa determinations.

It also requires decision-makers to seriously consider other forms of unacceptable behaviour towards vulnerable people, such as the elderly, who are often the target of serious non-violent crimes including fraud, extortion, exploitation and neglect.

The following information has been posted on the OMARA website:

As advised in the news item below (3 March 2021), transition arrangements will allow for Australian legal practising certificate holders who cease to be a registered migration agent on 22 March 2021, to use their former Migration Agents Registration Number (MARN) as a temporary lawyer ID number to access their existing ImmiAccount.

Whilst the MARN can be used to access ImmiAccount until such time as a new unique identifier is provided by the Department for ALPC holders to access their ImmiAccount, the MARN must not be advertised in any way. A former registered migration agent who continues to use or advertise their former MARN after commencement of the new legislation may be acting contrary to section 283 of the Migration Act 1958 (‘False representation that a person is a registered migration agent’), which carries a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment.

The following email was received by Migration Alliance last night from the Director of the Office of the MARA:

From 22 March 2021 a holder of an ALPC who has never been issued a MARN (not previously registered with the OMARA), and wishes to commence providing immigration assistance should go to the Home Affairs website page ‘who-can-help-with-your-application’ and select the new tab ‘Using a legal practitioner’.  From this page the holder of an ALPC who has not been issued with a MARN will need to download and complete the new Australian Legal Practitioner Number (LPN) form. The LPN form will ask for a MARN. Holders of an ALPC who have not been issued a MARN should leave this question (number 13) blank. This completed form should be emailed with a copy of the ALPC holder’s practising certificate to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .  

The This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  mailbox will respond with a 7 digit identification number starting with a prefix of 55. This number will allow the ALPC holder who has not previously been issued a MARN to open an ImmiAccount. This 7 digit number will be used as a temporary lawyer ID number until such time as a new unique identifier number is provided by the Department of Home Affairs.  This is expected to be in place in the latter half of 2021. The changes to the Home Affairs website and the new LPN form will be available from 22 March 2021. 

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration’s Inquiry into Australia’s Skilled Migration Program. ACCI has sustained a strong involvement with migration policy over several years, providing a highly considered and evidence-based perspective on the business impacts of migration policy.

ACCI has consistently emphasised that the needs of business and the broader community must form the pillars from which Australia’s migration program is built. Alongside the important outputs from our education and training sectors, ACCI views both the temporary and permanent skilled migration programs as highly valuable components of workforce planning and development in Australia.

Skilled migration is a vital tool that assists individual businesses who experience skill shortages as well as fill skills gaps in the economy.