Australian Immigration Daily News

From a speech by the Hon Jason Wood MP:

The Australian Government, through the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) in the Department of Home Affairs, regulates the migration advice industry in Australia. As you would know, it is illegal to provide immigration assistance in Australia unless registered as a migration agent with OMARA.

Only Registered Migration Agents––and exempt persons under the Migration Act––can lawfully provide immigration assistance within Australia.

Regulation of the industry provides a mechanism to ensure consumer protection through holding Registered Migration Agents to professional and ethical standards and ensuring they undergo continuing professional development. In any industry there are people who do the wrong thing, and the migration advice industry is no different. And those accessing migration services are sometimes among the most vulnerable to exploitation. OMARA receives and investigates complaints made against Registered Migration Agents.

In the first six months of this financial year, OMARA received 267 complaints. There were 59 code breaches identified, of which 27 resulted in sanctions. This included barring two former Registered Migration Agents from being registered, cancelling eight Registered Migration Agents and suspending four Registered Migration Agents. One of my personal priorities as Assistant Minister is to crack down on unregistered operators in Australia and overseas.

Source: WOOD-6-March-2020.pdf