Obligation under Code of Conduct - Australian Migration Law

This article discusses the obligations of a migration agent towards the client under the Code of Conduct and Migration Regulation Act in Australia. It covers the duty of care, confidentiality, provision of consumer guide, fees and charges provision, and the requirement to act in good faith. The article also mentions the case of Mr. Albert Wong, who needs assistance in his application for subclass 103 Parent visa.

Running head: AUSTRALIAN MIGRATION LAW
Obligation under Code of Conduct
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1AUSTRALIAN MIGRATION LAW
According to the provision of the Migration Regulation Act and Code of Conduct, an
agent has certain duties and obligation to the client which should have to be maintained at all
circumstances1. Part 3 of the Code of Conduct has stated about the obligations and part 5 of
the Code has stated about the provision on fees and charges regarding the proposed work2.
However, in this case, it has been observed that Mr. Albert Wong needs assistance in respect
of his application on subclass 103 Parent visa and an agreement has been made in between
the agent and Mr. Albert Wong and fees of the agent has also been determined to this effect.
According to the Migration Agents Regulation 1998 section 314 (1), it is the duty of
every registered migration agent to perform their duties as per the provision of law and the
agent should take proper care regarding the rights and interest of the client. A migration agent
is required to act prudently while dealing with the client. An agent is obliged to act according
to the provision of the Migration Act 1958 and Migration Regulations 1994.
A registered migration agent should have to preserve the secret of his client and
should not disclose the facts without his or her consent according to part 3 of the Code of
Conduct. An agent is also an obligation not to disclose anything regards to the business or
profession of the client to anyone without the consent of the client3. The main object of the
Act is to establish standard duty of care for the migration agents. It is required by the Code
that every migration agent should assist the client in accordance to their needs regarding the
migration matter and he or she should have to perform their duty in good faith. The agents are
required to have in depth knowledge on the migration related matters and will ensure the
clients with all the possible assistance regarding the migration related matters. The agents are
also played an important role in case of keeping the records of their clients. However, a
1 Wilson, Tom. "Can international migration forecasting be improved? The case of Australia." Migration
Letters 14.2 (2017): 285.
2 'Home - Office Of The Migration Agents Registration Authority' (Mara.gov.au, 2018)
<https://www.mara.gov.au/> accessed 17 February 2018.
3 Underhill, Elsa, et al. "Migration intermediaries and codes of conduct: Temporary migrant workers in
Australian horticulture." Journal of Business Ethics (2016): 1-15.

2AUSTRALIAN MIGRATION LAW
migration agent is obliged to provide all the assistance to the clients and is required to
provide a consumer guide to the client and an extra copy of the same should be kept with the
agent. It is to be noted that the consumer guide has been published by the Migration
Authorities that include the function of the authority and reasonable expectation of the client
from the agent and the provision regarding complain process has also been provided. It is the
duty of the agent to inform the client regarding the copies of application and related
documents, if necessary4. The Code has given power to the agent to charge the client in
respect of all these documents. An agent is obliged to mention an address and contact number
during the time of dealing and in case of any change regarding the address or contact number,
he will inform the client and the authority regarding the same within fourteen day from the
change. In the given case5, it has been observed that Mr. Wong is a Chinese resident and
therefore, if he needs interpreter, the agent will provide the same to him and the agent is
obliged to do the duty as per part 3.6 of Code of Conduct.
It has been mentioned under Part 3 of the Code that the migration agent can imposed
proper fees to the clients, but no specific fees has been mentioned under Part 5 of the Code. It
has been stated under the part 5 that the agent should provide an estimate charge or fees for
all his services and the agent is obliged to provide the criteria for time to the client so that the
client can understand the potentiality of his work to the agent6. It is also the duty of the agent
to provide all the details regarding the work to the client in written version. According to part
5.3 of the Code of conduct, an agent should not perform a work in any way that the proposed
amount will exceed subsequently.
4 Hirsch, Asher Lazarus. "The Borders Beyond the Border: Australia’s Extraterritorial Migration
Controls." Refugee Survey Quarterly 36.3 (2017): 48-80.
5 Singh, Supriya. "Introducing a temporary visa for parents: Submission." (2016).
6 Underhill, Elsa, and Malcolm Rimmer. "Layered vulnerability: Temporary migrants in Australian
horticulture." Journal of Industrial Relations 58.5 (2016): 608-626.

3AUSTRALIAN MIGRATION LAW
In the given case it has been observed that Mr. Wong, who is a Chinese resident, has
approached before the agent to provide him assistance regarding his Class AX sub-class 103
Parent visa. However, the agent has clarified his portion of charges to Mr. Wong and both the
parties have given their consent over the issue on charges. However, the agent is required to
generate a written copy to Mr. Wong regarding the fees. Further, the agent should give a
specific time period for the completion of the projected work to Mr. Wong. It is the
responsibility of the agent to interact with client properly and conduct his portion of duties in
good faith7. The agent is obliged to act in accordance with the migration related legislations
and always work for the legitimate interest of the clients. According to part 2.15, the agent is
restricted to perform any of his work with malafide intention or coercively. He should not
manipulate the cultural anxiety and will provide Mr. Wong an interpreter in case he needs so.
The agent is also required to perform the work prudently; he needs not perform the job by
discriminating his client8.
7 De Haas, Hein, Katharina Natter, and Simona Vezzoli. "Conceptualizing and measuring migration policy
change." Comparative Migration Studies 3.1 (2015): 15.
8 Birchall, Ebony. "Hunger strikes in immigration detention: Regulation 5.35 of the'Migration Regulations' 1994
(Cth)." Precedent (Sydney, NSW) 128 (2015): 52.

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Bibliography:
Birchall, Ebony. "Hunger strikes in immigration detention: Regulation 5.35 of the'Migration
Regulations' 1994 (Cth)." Precedent (Sydney, NSW) 128 (2015): 52.
De Haas, Hein, Katharina Natter, and Simona Vezzoli. "Conceptualizing and measuring
migration policy change." Comparative Migration Studies 3.1 (2015): 15.
Hirsch, Asher Lazarus. "The Borders Beyond the Border: Australia’s Extraterritorial
Migration Controls." Refugee Survey Quarterly 36.3 (2017): 48-80.
'Home - Office Of The Migration Agents Registration Authority' (Mara.gov.au, 2018)
<https://www.mara.gov.au/> accessed 17 February 2018
Singh, Supriya. "Introducing a temporary visa for parents: Submission." (2016).
Underhill, Elsa, and Malcolm Rimmer. "Layered vulnerability: Temporary migrants in
Australian horticulture." Journal of Industrial Relations 58.5 (2016): 608-626.
Underhill, Elsa, et al. "Migration intermediaries and codes of conduct: Temporary migrant
workers in Australian horticulture." Journal of Business Ethics (2016): 1-15.
Wilson, Tom. "Can international migration forecasting be improved? The case of
Australia." Migration Letters 14.2 (2017): 285.