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The Migration Agents Registration Authority

On 20 March 1998 The Migration Institute of Australia Limited (MIA) was appointed by the former Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (now Department of Immigration and Citizenship), The Hon Philip Ruddock MP, to undertake the role of the Migration Agents Registration Authority ("the Authority"). The Authority replaced the Migration Agents Registration Board and moved the profession from statutory regulation to statutory self-regulation.

The statutory self-regulation scheme is expected to improve the quality of the advice that Australia's 3000 (as at March 2003) registered migration agents provide to their clients, through a strong emphasis on education and development processes. These same regulations apply to registered agents, such as Australian Visa Bureau, outside of Australia.

The law requires that migration agents operating in Australia be registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority ("the Authority").

The Authority regulates the migration advice profession and undertakes a range of functions as defined in s316 of the Migration Act 1958.

These functions include:

• Processing applications for registration;
• Administering continuing professional development;
• Monitoring the conduct of registered migration agents; and
• Investigating complaints about, and taking appropriate disciplinary action against, registered migration agents who breach the Migration Agents Code of Conduct or otherwise behave in an unprofessional or unethical way.

Agents registered with The MARA operate under a strict Code of Conduct. Click here to view the Code of Conduct, and for more information on the The MARA please visit, www.themara.com.au.

Also you may wish to read the MARA booklet on Information on the Regulation of the Migration Advice Profession. It sets out information about the migration advice profession, the functions of the Authority, the legislation regulating the profession, what a client can reasonably expect from a migration agent and complaint procedures. Click here to download this booklet (.pdf).

If you do not have Adobe Reader to read .pdf files, it can be downloaded free here from the Adobe website.