Australian Immigration Daily News

A Bill for an Act to amend the Migration Act 1958, and for related purposes 

The Migration Amendment (Protecting Migrant Workers) Bill (the Bill) amends the
Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act) to strengthen the Government’s response to the
exploitation of migrant workers in Australia, and to implement Recommendations 19 and
20 from the Report of the Migrant Workers’ Taskforce (the Taskforce Report).
The Migrant Workers’ Taskforce (the Taskforce) was established in 2016 as part of the
Government’s commitment to protect vulnerable workers. It was asked to identify further
proposals for improvements in law, law enforcement and investigation, and other practical
measures to more quickly identify and rectify any cases of migrant worker exploitation.
The Taskforce Report was released on 7 March 2019 and is available at:
https://www.ag.gov.au/industrial-relations/migrant-workers-taskforce.
The Government is implementing a range of measures to respond to the Taskforce’s
recommendations. The Department of Home Affairs is the lead agency responsible for
implementing:

Recommendation 19: It is recommended that the Government consider
developing legislation so that a person who knowingly unduly influences,
pressures or coerces a temporary migrant worker to breach a condition of their
visa is guilty of an offence; and

The OMARA has issued two sanctions this week and today posted on the Home Affairs Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=260861596078092&set=a.157089473121972.

“The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) has been working hard to ensure that people looking for help with their visa aren’t being exposed to migration fraud. The OMARA will sanction Australian registered migration agents for misconduct and/or fraud. To see who has been sanctioned this week visit:

Disciplinary decisions · OMARA Self-Service Portal”

A whole-of-government investigation – led by the AFP and comprising the Australian Border Force (ABF), AUSTRAC, the Australian Taxation Office and Department of Home Affairs – found evidence of an alleged scheme intended to defraud legitimate visa programs. It was triggered by an ABF investigation into allegations of significant visa and migration fraud, dating to August 2019.

The man allegedly facilitated more than 130 fraudulent visa applications – focusing on the food service and regional farm worker industries – over four years, resulting in more than $2 million being gained from this activity.

A total of nine search warrants were executed by AFP and ABF officers in relation to this investigation on 21 July 2021, at premises in Wamberal, Terrigal and Copacabana on the NSW Central Coast, in the Sydney suburbs of Revesby (two locations) and Rockdale (two locations), and at East Maitland, NSW, and Bundaberg West, Queensland. Additional search warrants were executed today on the man’s Terrigal residence today, and at a Tuggerah premises.

The 57-year-old man was charged with providing false documents and false or misleading information etc. relating to non-citizens, contrary to Section 234 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth), and restriction on charging fees for immigration assistance contrary to Section 281 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).

Source: Man-arrested-for-multi-million-dollar-migration-fraud.pdf

The purpose of the instrument is to specify a class of persons for paragraph 1402(3B)(b) of Schedule 1 to the Regulations. The instrument specifies as a class of persons, persons who were granted Subclass 449 visas due to the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. In practise, these are Afghan nationals who were evacuated from Afghanistan to Australia, who:
- were locally engaged employees of the Australian Government;
- had a strong connection to Australia; or
- were particularly vulnerable or high profile and who may come to the attention of the Taliban because of that vulnerability or profile.

Source: LIN21080.pdf and LIN21080-Explanatory-Statement.pdf

Please see attached the Migration Agent Activity Report January to June 2021.

MAAR_Jan_to_Jun_2021_WEB_FINAL.pdf