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DIBP Safeguard Profiles and Agents of Interest July 2014
The DIBP website has the following information on this page titled DISCLOSURE LOG.
| 14 July 2014 | FA14/05/00374 |
Exemption: s47F(1)
|
Partial |
When clicking the link the document below appears.
http://www.immi.gov.au/About/foi/Documents/FA140500374.PDF (web link)
FOI-Decision-Record-Agents-of-Concern.PDF (saved pdf document)
Interestingly there seems to be a larger Agents of Interest list than what is currently known about.
Most importantly it seems that the Agents of Interest list has notes from 2007, 2008 and 2009 which are mentioned in the FOI document. The MIA was in control of the MARA during 2007, 2008 and 2009.
It is also interesting to note that there are emails between various people at the DIBP in late 2013 and 2014 regarding 'Agents of interest on ICSE'.
There is an email from one DIBP officer to another stating, 'Here is the Agent Report that you requested'.
There are tick boxes, non-tick boxes and safeguard lists. Read the document yourself. It's official. We are being watched and everything we do is tracked. Even ASIO is mentioned in this FOI.
I was told on 12 March 2014 by the DIBP that the lists are old and no longer in use. This is the article which I wrote on 12 March 2014 confirming the information that I obtained from the DIBP.
Comments
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Wednesday, 20 August 2014My earlier points in previous blogs exactly, Liana; the 1-pager, 21-name list which appeared yesterday (perhaps as an offering to appease our collective and justified anger) is not the definitive one. This continues to reek of secrecy and authority/delegation on steroids within some of the DIBP ranks and I suspect that it will escalate, for this is a terrible breach of our trust as individuals and as an industry, not to mention the blatant disregard of people’s rights to procedural fairness.
‘Agents of interest’? for whom? for zealous case officer who have taken in upon themselves to monitor potential rogue RMAs? Can't help but think that it's a bit like 'persons of interest' as if a crime had been committed (and there’s a mention of ASIO in there somewhere…) the issue here is clear - case officers are instructed to refer RMAs of concern to them to OMARA for investigation in PAM3, period. Anything else is unacceptable, except a warranted referral to the AFP if a crime’s been committed.
I think that MA’s support and assistance for mass FOI applications is in order, as is support for those who wish to take action on this, as I doubt that any ‘other’ RMA membership organisation is likely to follow this up with the robustness and conviction of MA, lest it’s being done in secrecy. A telling tale about the fact that the MIA and the MARA were one and the same during the periods in question, but very little public information forthcoming from the MIA during this time about this extremely important issue which would have affected part of its membership – great support and representation of RMAs interest, indeed, and at a considerable price (and no, I am not talking about the MIA membership fee, which pales into nothingness compared to the damage this has done and will continue to do onto all RMAs and the industry.)
A very sad state of affairs, -
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
So each member of MA needs to out in a separate FOI application to see if their name is on the system as an agent of interest?
Yup I am up for that.
Perhaps we can start our own list of DIBP officers of interest. Those that have made mistakes they refuse to correct. Those that have made decisions contrary to PAMS etc. etc.
I have a few names I could submit. -
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Someone just called me and told me where the list is now: http://www.megafileupload.com/en/file/559130/MigrationAgentsofConcernBlacklist-png.html
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Wednesday, 20 August 2014
You have to scroll down to the yellow button under the two square adverts to see the list 'Download now' button.
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Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Yeap, this is the list that was on tiny url last night and then dissapeared and has re-appeared again - the 1 pager, 21-name list... We want the COMPLETE list which appears to be an excel spreadsheet, according to the disclosure log and the departmental emails where it is referred to as an attachment. The intrigue will continue, no doubt, until we will get to the bottom of this... And that, we will.
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Wednesday, 20 August 2014An FOI request would look something like this:
"Please provide a copy of any ICSE commentary concerning myself and my conduct as an RMA #123456. Please provide a copy of the "Agents of Interest" spreadsheet or list and any narrative that appears on it as it applies to me personally."
I am filing today. -
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
Thanks Chris will send one off today - maybe after a few of them they will get tired of blanking out all the other names
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Wednesday, 20 August 2014
I think if you have your name on the shit list then you are probably doing your job properly.
If any allegations of misconduct contained in the narrative or any "associations" were a real concern then there would be a complaint to the OMARA and the usual professional standards colonoscopy.
When I worked in investigations branch the boss ( Bob McCleod) used to say " If you dont have any complaints you aren't doing your job properly"
Immigration blog
If you look at page 8 of the 27 page document and you will see that Gavin Haynes on 15 November 2013 is writing to Fauziah Varusay and the topic is "Agents of interest on ICSE".
The document ( email refers to an "attached spreadsheet" showing "active agents" that are "currently an agent of interest".
The list is active in that Fauziah is "in the process of reviewing our agents of interest list"
I think this shows that the list in its various incarnations is on ICSE as well as a standalone document.
The data matching of RMAs to clients occurs on a document which is called the BIR , (Business Intelligence Report) which lists every application where the RMAs MARN is linked to the client, presumably through the 956. The ICSE will then flag the RMA to the historical data on ICSE which includes the Agent of Concern/ Interest "narrative".
As I understand it once the notation is made on ICSE it cannot be removed, it is like a CRA notation saying that you have a bad credit profile. Except that the CRA list can be amended by the applicant for a loan.
The denial of a current list of "agents of concern" appears to turn on a half truth.
The facts are these, the "Agents of Concern" list has morphed into "Agents of interest" list and the assertion that the list is no longer being used is true but for the fact that the list in another form is still in use, albeit with a 'narrative'.
I think we should call a spade a spade..the list is in effect a "shit list" of RMAs who have been secretly found to be of "interest" in the context of fraud, bogus documents etc..That secret trial has been conducted exparte and the RMA concerned has been found guilty and their clients persecuted without any opportunity to explain or comment on the findings in the shit list.
The lack of transparency and the default to denial, the lack of natural justice and the communication of objectively untrue information is so Kafkaesque that it would be funny if it did not besmirch the reputation of the profession.
The simple facts are these, there are more than 5000 RMAs. The number of complaints having regard to the thousands of applications made by those RMAs which when examined have led to the imposition of sanctions on less than 10 RMAs suggests a highly competent group of compliant professionals.
The creation and maintenance of a shit list of RMAs absent any sanction is a complete disgrace and shows the absolute contempt that DIBP has for the profession.
My experience tells me that pandering to a bully ( DIBP) only encourages the bully to ramp up the bullying.
MA does not pander to DIBP or OMARA.
RMAs are honourable, trustworthy and reliable intermediaries with a grossly dsyfunctional Department that is obsessed with control.
None of this shit list business would have been possible without a culture of deceit being rampant inside DIBP.
I have seen similar half truths and outright lies being told by persons in professional standards at OMARA.
The lack of independence by OMARA and its domination by DIBP is a complete disgrace and needs to stop. It is an obvious conflict of interest at least as egregious as the one that led to the decoupling of the MIA from MARA.
When is someone going to enforce the Public service Code of Conduct ?
This has to stop.