Damning report finds agency ‘is taking longer to sanction fewer’ migration agents and rarely uses its full powers to investigate them
The arrivals board at Sydney International airport. An audit office report has criticised the agency responsible for overseeing the conduct of migration agents in AustraliaThe arrivals board at Sydney International airport.
The agent had been the subject of three complaints between 2015 and 2018. A home affairs brief to the then home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, and acting immigration minister, Alan Tudge, in November 2020 said Omara would assess its earlier 2014 investigation into the agent over allegations they provided false information on a client’s visa application.
Of those nine, ANAO’s analysis found Omara did not use its regulatory powers to investigate seven of the 10 agents and only two of the 10 have ever been the subject of sanctions by the department. The auditor’s brutal assessment noted a number of examples where agents’ registrations were cancelled only after being the subject of media reporting.
While the ANAO noted there had been some improvements in recent years, it also concluded the average time taken to investigate and finalise complaints leading to sanctions increased by 65%, or an average of 17 months in 2017-18 to an average of 28 months in 2022-23. During the most recent financial year, 14 complaints leading to four agents being sanctioned took between two and 57 months.
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