SZJDO v MIAC & Anor

The Federal Court of Australia, constituted by Kirby and Heydon JJ, considered an appeal by SZJDO against decisions of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). SZJDO, a registered migration agent, had been found guilty of professional misconduct by MARA, which led to the suspension of their registration. This decision was subsequently affirmed by the AAT. The core of the dispute concerned whether SZJDO had breached the Migration Agents Regulations 1998 (Cth) by failing to provide clients with a written agreement detailing the services to be provided and the fees to be charged.

The primary legal issue before the Full Federal Court was whether the AAT had erred in law by interpreting the requirements of regulation 5(1)(c) of the Migration Agents Regulations 1998. Specifically, the court had to determine if the AAT’s finding that SZJDO had failed to provide the requisite written agreement to certain clients was correct, and consequently, whether this failure constituted a breach of the professional standards expected of a registered migration agent.

The Court reasoned that regulation 5(1)(c) imposed a clear obligation on registered migration agents to provide clients with a written agreement that specifies the services to be provided and the fees payable. The AAT had correctly applied this regulation to the facts before it, finding that SZJDO had not furnished such agreements in the instances under review. The Court affirmed the AAT’s conclusion that this omission amounted to a failure to comply with the professional obligations mandated by the regulations, thereby justifying the disciplinary action taken by MARA. The appeal was dismissed.