Overview

The Migration Agents Regulations 1998, enacted by the Australian Parliament, was designed to regulate the activities of registered migration agents to ensure they maintain their professional competence. This was necessary to fill a gap in ensuring that migration agents keep their knowledge and skills up to date with evolving immigration laws and practices. The Explanatory Statement for F2007L03905 Notice, published under the authority of the Migration Agents Registration Authority, specifies approved activities for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for registered migration agents. The purpose of this notice is to update and specify new approved CPD activities, replacing the previous notice. Importantly, the notice includes a retrospective element, allowing agents to claim credit for CPD activities completed in the 12 months prior to applying for re-registration, thereby ensuring they are not disadvantaged by the update. The revision neither advantages nor disadvantages the Commonwealth or the migration agents, maintaining the integrity of the CPD framework.

Scope and Application

The Migration Agents Regulations 1998 apply to registered migration agents who are required to complete approved Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities to maintain their registration. These activities are outlined in notices published by the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the Authority) and must accumulate a value of at least 10 points for re-registration under the Migration Act 1958. The explanatory statement specifies that this particular notice, which is of a minor or machinery nature, revokes a previous notice (MN35-07f) and sets out new approved CPD activities. Importantly, the notice is retrospective to 1 April 1998 to ensure that migration agents are not disadvantaged by completing CPD activities before the notice is published, as long as these activities were undertaken within 12 months of the application for repeat registration. The retrospective application does not disadvantage migration agents or the Commonwealth, as clause 4 of Schedule 1 of the Regulations allows agents to claim activities that have been withdrawn, provided they were completed before the instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments.

Key Provisions

The main operative sections of the instrument (sections 2 to 11) detail the procedures and provisions for specifying approved activities for Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for registered migration agents. According to section 2, clause 3 of Schedule 1 to the Migration Agents Regulations 1998 empowers the Migration Agents Registration Authority (the 'Authority') to specify approved CPD activities by notice on its website. This is the foundation on which the instrument is built, allowing the Authority to define activities that migration agents must complete to re-register under section 290A of the Migration Act 1958. Section 3 specifies the purpose of this instrument as updating the approved activities for CPD, while section 4 revokes the previous notice, "Migration Agents (Continuing Professional Development – Miscellaneous activities) MARA Notice MN35-07f of 2007", and introduces new activities. The instrument’s retrospective nature, as described in section 9, ensures that the new notice is effective from 1 April 1998, thereby allowing agents to claim credit for CPD activities completed within 12 months prior to applying for repeat registration. The obligations and requirements imposed by the Act on the parties it governs are primarily centred around CPD. Registered migration agents must complete activities that have been approved by the Authority, each with a value of at least 10 points, as per section 290A of the Migration Act 1958. Section 4 of the instrument revokes the previous listing of approved activities, and section 6 introduces a new set of activities. This means that agents must stay updated with the latest notice published by the Authority and ensure that their CPD activities align with the newly specified activities. The requirement to engage in these activities is crucial for maintaining their registration status and ensuring they remain compliant with the legislative framework. The instrument outlines consequences for non-compliance, although it does not specify detailed penalties within the explanatory statement. However, section 290A of the Migration Act 1958, which the instrument refers to, implies that failure to complete the required CPD activities could result in the inability to re-register. The absence of explicit penalties in the instrument suggests that the primary consequence is the inability to maintain registration, which would effectively prevent the agent from practising. The retrospective application, as noted in section 9, ensures that agents are not disadvantaged by the changes, provided they complete the activities before the instrument is registered on the Federal Register of Legislative Instruments. This approach maintains fairness and ensures that the agents can still benefit from activities completed prior to the notice’s publication.