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Immigration Daily News LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA: Ending migration dual regulation a win for consumers - Called on the Australian Parliament to swiftly pass legislation to remove the dual regulation of migration lawyers & reduce costs for consumersAustralian Immigration Daily News
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LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA: Ending migration dual regulation a win for consumers - Called on the Australian Parliament to swiftly pass legislation to remove the dual regulation of migration lawyers & reduce costs for consumers
Law Council of Australia President, Pauline Wright, has welcomed a report issued on Thursday by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee recommending the passage of the Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Bill 2019 without delay. The Australian legal profession is already subject to robust regulatory oversight. The Bill would remove unnecessary dual regulation for legal practitioners.
“As highlighted by the Committee, the issue of dual regulation of lawyers who provide migration assistance has been long-debated. It is long overdue for this Bill to be passed,” Ms Wright said.
“The discontinuation of dual regulation is in accordance with multiple major recommendations spanning a number of years, including those of the 2014 Independent Review of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority, and a previous report by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee.”
Source: Law-Council---ending-dual-regulation-a-win-for-consumers.pdf
Comments
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Monday, 02 March 2020This is misleading - there is absolutely NO evidence that this will "reduce costs for consumers"....
Given their other current "proposals" - this organisation should be treated with extreme suspicion by any RMA.
The vast bulk of their "proposals" are hideously unsubstantiated and overtly prejudicial, designed to "move" the industry into the sole domain of lawyers. -
Tuesday, 03 March 2020
How exactly will this reduce the costs to the consumer? Will lawyers be charging lower rates now. Hardly.
If the bills intention was to lower costs to consumers then it would have licensed only registered migration agents to process visas.
Registered Migration Agents charge much lower fees than lawyers and do not have add-on costs -
Friday, 13 March 2020
This is so old. Years ago this dual regulation was introduced exactly to thwart the issues that are being complained about. Parliament is full of lawyers etc, this is hardly an objective change.
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Saturday, 14 March 2020
Lawyers who wish to practice and specialise in Migration should be required to undergo a Capstone exam so consumers can be assured that the lawyer is not just a jack of all trades. Dual regulations will man that the Law institute will have to regulate its members. Consumers can not and assume that every lawyers understands Immigration Law. They might understand the basics but not the detail. Surely legal practices should be able to decide if what section regulates them
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Thursday, 19 March 2020
This is GREAT NEWS...I am a Mature Aged Lawyer with 10 years of practical experience as a Migration Agent...I loved doing that work and I had an extraordinarily high success rate...when I went out to work for myself I found that I did not have the funds to renew my Migration Agent Registration...reluctantly I let it lapse. I was fortunate to continue as a Lawyer however and had many inquiries from potential clients as to whether I could do migration work...reluctantly I had to decline. Once this Legislation is approved I will be able to resume as a migration agent, provided, of course I continue to renew my Lawyer's Practising Certificate. I suggest to those who are griping about this new competition to just up their game and get with it.
Immigration blog
This seems to be a worthwhile organization if you are new to the area. The Migration Alliance is full of excellent and hardworking people. I understand it represents the majority of people working in the immigration.
However, I want to ask does the organization hold elections for positions within the organization? If there are no elections for positions within the organization, can I ask why not?
Xuen