Lawyers who lodge visa applications that they know have little chance of success will face tougher scrutiny under a federal crackdown on misconduct in Australia’s migration system.
The Albanese Government will on Friday warn lawyers, registered migration agents and unregistered operators against continued exploitation of vulnerable migrants and undermining confidence in the visa system.
Assistant Minister for Citizenship Julian Hill will use a speech to the Migration Institute of Australia on Friday to outline proposed changes to the industry’s code of conduct, including a ban on registered agents assisting with applications they know, or reasonably ought to know, have no reasonable factual or legal basis.
The move comes as federal Labor overhauls migration settings amid fierce political debate fuelled by the rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and a flagging Coalition. Hill will argue the measures are about getting greater control over who arrives, stays and leaves, in Australia’s national interest.
The changes to professional standards would replace a current provision allowing an agent to proceed with a futile application if a client acknowledges in writing that they understand it is futile.
Hill, who will also unveil a suite of changes to student visa approvals, will stress the changes are not intended to prevent agents from handling complex or unusual applications where there is a reasonable factual or legal basis.
But he will also turn his attention to lawyers, warning that some of the worst practices identified by the government involve legal practitioners.
“Some of the worst, sharpest practice I see in my electorate office and ministerial work is actually by lawyers,” Hill says in a draft version of the speech.
Hill will say Home Affairs referrals about concerning conduct by lawyers are made to professional or licensing bodies, but there is no systemic transparency about the outcomes.
“Ultimately, I do not have confidence in the policy regime around how lawyers interact with the migration system,” he will say.
He cites three recent cases identified by the Department of Home Affairs, including a lawyer linked to multiple temporary protection visa applications by undocumented air arrivals containing broadly similar claims, a cluster of sponsored parent visa applications involving questionable identity and supporting documents, and a high-volume employer-sponsored visa practice involving companies linked to previously sanctioned or liquidated entities.
Hill will also attack online advertising by lawyers that appeared to coach people on how to falsely claim they were bisexual or being persecuted to support protection visa applications.
“That’s not legal representation. It’s a misuse of the migration system for profit,” he will say.
Hill will argue the regulatory framework for lawyers has created a gap in the integrity of the migration system since responsibility for regulating migration-related legal practice shifted away from the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority in 2021.
About 1700 unrestricted legal practitioners have been removed from the migration agents register and are now regulated under state and territory legal regimes.
The government has asked the Department of Home Affairs to consider policy options, with the government expected to work with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland and state and territory attorneys-general on possible changes.
Hill will also announce a dedicated Home Affairs taskforce targeting so-called “fake agents” who unlawfully provide migration advice without being registered agents or legally qualified lawyers.
The taskforce will investigate and disrupt operators taking money for migration advice through Facebook groups, social media and other online channels.
It will use a range of administrative measures, including infringement notices, to disrupt the businesses rather than relying solely on prosecutions, which Hill described as slow and expensive.
“I’m not going to telegraph what’s in their toolkit, but the focus is on disrupting business models in multiple different ways,” he will say.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke last month announced settings to drive down arrival numbers, cracking down on visa overstayers, capping backpacker stays, and stopping international students from bringing family.
Burke said the changes would restore integrity to the program, aiming to meet net overseas migration targets of 245,000 this year and 225,000 next financial year amid ongoing housing pressures.
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Rob Harris is the national correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age based in Canberra. He is a former Europe correspondent.Connect via email.From our partners
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