Overview

The Migration Agents Regulations 1998, enacted by the Parliament of Australia, address the need for ongoing professional development for registered migration agents. This legislation empowers the Migration Agents Registration Authority to specify approved activities for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) through notices published on its website. Under the Migration Act 1958, registered migration agents must complete CPD activities worth at least 10 points to re-register. The explanatory statement outlines a notice specifying activities such as attendance at seminars, workshops, conferences, or lectures as approved CPD activities. This particular notice revokes the previous MARA notice and introduces new activities, without substantially altering existing CPD arrangements. The retrospective application of the notice ensures that agents can claim credit for activities completed within the 12 months prior to applying for repeat registration, thereby preventing any disadvantage to the agents.

Scope and Application

The Migration Agents Regulations 1998, as amended by the explanatory statement for F2007L03904, provide a framework for the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements of registered migration agents in Australia. The Act applies to registered migration agents who must complete approved CPD activities to re-register under section 290A of the Migration Act 1958. These activities are specified by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the 'Authority') and must have a value of at least 10 points. The instrument under discussion specifies activities such as attendance at seminars, workshops, conferences, or lectures, which are approved for CPD purposes. This instrument revokes the previous MARA notice (MN35-07c) and updates the list of approved activities, ensuring that the CPD requirements remain current and relevant. The retrospective nature of the notice, effective from 1 April 1998, allows agents to claim credit for activities completed within 12 months prior to applying for repeat registration, thereby preventing any disadvantage to agents or the Commonwealth. The instrument operates on a machinery level, altering the approved CPD activities without fundamentally changing the existing CPD framework for migration agents.

Key Provisions

The Migration Agents Regulations 1998, as amended by the Notice published under clause 3 of Schedule 1, set out the activities that are approved for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for registered migration agents. According to section 290A of the Migration Act 1958, all registered migration agents must complete CPD activities that have a value of at least 10 points in order to re-register. The Notice specifies new activities that are approved for CPD, which include attendance at seminars, workshops, conferences, or lectures (section 3). These activities are assigned point values and listed in the Schedule, and they replace the previous notice, Migration Agents (Continuing Professional Development – Attendance at a Seminar, Workshop, Conference or Lecture) MARA Notice MN35-07c of 2007, which was revoked by this Notice. The Notice imposes several obligations on registered migration agents. Firstly, they must ensure that their CPD activities are approved by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the Authority) and have a value of at least 10 points. Secondly, they must complete the required number of approved CPD activities within the specified period to maintain their registration. Failure to comply with these obligations could result in the revocation of their registration, which would prevent them from providing migration services to clients. There are no specific offences or penalties outlined in the Notice itself. However, the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Agents Registration Act 2008 provide for civil and criminal penalties for breaches of the Act and the Regulations. For example, section 274 of the Migration Act imposes a maximum penalty of 50 penalty units ($5,500) for a contravention of the Act, while section 148 of the Migration Agents Registration Act imposes a maximum penalty of 100 penalty units ($11,000) for a contravention of the Regulations. These penalties may be increased in the case of serious or repeated breaches. The Notice is of a minor or machinery nature, meaning that it does not substantially alter existing arrangements for CPD for registered migration agents. It simply updates the list of approved activities and revokes the previous notice. The retrospective nature of the Notice ensures that migration agents are not disadvantaged if they complete any of the activities listed in the previous notice within the 12 months prior to applying for repeat registration. This means that agents can still claim credit for activities that they completed before the Notice was published, provided that they were undertaken before the instrument was registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. The retrospectivity does not disadvantage migration agents or the Commonwealth in any way.