LML6001 Practitioner Legal Skills for Australian Migration Law Sample

LML6001 Practitioner Legal Skills for Australian Migration Law

SCENARIO

You have just received your offer of enrolment for the Graduate Diploma in Migration Law at Victoria University (VU) and you are excited to begin your studies. Your motivation for enrolling in the course was to assist members of your community who needed immigration assistance, as you yourself could relate, having gone through your own migration journey many years ago.

Flicking through a professional networking app on your phone, you see that a local migration firm is advertising three-week internships. The timings are perfect for you, as the internships are scheduled to start and finish just prior to your upcoming semester at VU. You get very excited about this and think that it is a great opportunity to obtain some practical experience prior to commencing your studies. Further to this, the migration firm advertising the internships is closely connected to your community, and you know many people in the firm through your community and speak their clients’ language. You apply and are successful.

You undertake the internship and feel that you have learnt a lot in terms of the practical aspect of immigration, in particular, how to handle clients. Given your established connection to the community, most of the clients that came in already knew who you were and were very happy to see a familiar face. Your employer noticed this and sensing an opportunity, offered you a job as a part time junior migration assistant , which you happily accepted.

A few weeks pass, and the time has come for you to complete a performance review at the firm. As a part of this process, you are required to do a 360 review, for which you are required to identify the positives and negatives of the workplace. You are reluctant to do this, as you wonder how this will impact your long-term career at the firm, so you ask your colleague for some guidance. Your colleague assures you that your employer really does value honest feedback, as this is the best way for them to improve firm efficiencies.

You fill out the form with the following points:

1. I enjoy the team dynamic and how everyone is willing to help each other. I really enjoy that registered migration agents (RMA) trust us enough to work on their files and allow us the freedom to contact clients to obtain more information or clarify any information. I have lodged a couple of applications with minimal guidance from the RMA, but they have given me a lot of support in terms of believing in my ability and in one instance I was successful in obtaining a grant for a visa. This builds my confidence in the area.

2. I dislike that there is a lot of administration work and think that you should hire specific employees to do this type of work. I am of the view that I am beyond this type of work and it is not the role of an RMA or someone who is studying migration law.

3. It is comforting to see that the clientele are community members and we are helping them. I see the community as one big family and it is great that we can reassure our clients’ family members about our clients’ applications and provide them ongoing updates. I believe this is why the clients trust us.

4. I appreciate that the firm understands our community’s culture and that we provide a discount if clients pay our fees by cash. I also like that there is a discount on what is stated in the service agreement if they pay by cash. However, I do not enjoy having to count the money and put it in the firm’s safety box and that I am responsible for counting it each day because sometimes people access the money for morning tea or for purchasing gifts for our clients and do not let me know.

5. I appreciate that some of our clients are elderly or do not read or write English and that we do home visits, that we keep things informal to keep them at ease. It is pleasing to see that we keep a record of their file but do not provide them with anything as it may be overwhelming for them, which I can understand.

6. I really think it is a great marketing tactic to publish in the community newspapers and on Facebook our clients’ grant notices and our clients’ details. We sometimes have the person who was granted the visa tagged too and obtain lots of comments, which builds the firm’s reputation. Clients have said this is why they chose us over our competitors.

7. The thing I most appreciate is that we always try to remain bipartisan and continue to act for parties when there are breakdowns between family members who are also visa applicants. Sometimes this approach results in reconciliation of the parties and this reflects community values, which is very important to me.

You submit your 360 review and your employer commends you for your honesty and you are promoted to senior migration assistant. You begin your studies at VU and the first subject addresses the Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021. After the class, you have concerns about the points you raised in the 360 performance review, you decide to apply what you have learnt to the review. What obligations were breached by your employer as the migration agent, under the Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021 and what practical steps would you recommend to your employer to ensure the obligations are not breached in the future? You must support your answers by reference to the specific legislative provisions.

Solution

Introduction

The Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021 are a foundation in the maintenance of integrity as well as professionalism of migration services in Australia. They help in describing the ethical as well as professional standards desired of registered migration agents that ensure clients receive just and fair immigration services . The current performance review undertaken at the migration firm serves as a vital role when it comes to regulatory framework. It not only helps in evaluating individual as well as collective compliance to the standards but also traces the areas of improvement hence protecting the clients interest and safeguarding the goodwill of the migration profession. This mechanism emphasize the commitment to regular enhancement and the ethical practice within the advisory segment of the migration.

Positive Aspects Noted in the Review

1. Team Dynamics and Client Engagement:

The performance review features for management assignment expert two critical qualities of the migration firm: strong team dynamics and significant community connection. The association's current circumstance encourages cooperation and individual independence, permitting workers to oversee cases with negligible management while supporting each other . This approach improves proficiency as well as supports certainty among junior staff, straightforwardly encapsulating the expert and diligent ethos ordered by Clause 2 of the Migration Agents Code of Conduct.

2. Community Connection and Cultural Understanding: Moreover, the company's well-established understanding and regard for community and social subtleties stand out. Their obligation to serve the local area, recognize social awareness, and treat clients with the highest regard and kindness is completely by Statement 2.9 of the Code. These practices build trust and compatibility with clients as well as build up the company's standing as a humane and client-centered substance inside the migration area.

Areas of Concern and Recommendations

1. Administration Work and Role Clarity:

The review opens up a major concern that regards the allocation of administrative tasks to the one who are working or studying within the migration law that suggests a misalignment within the care competencies as well as educational focus. Clause 3 of the Migration Agents Code of Conduct projects the responsibility of the agent in prioritizing the assistance of immigration that implies that the primary role should not be diluted with the duties of the administration unlinked to the direct client service. The discern expressed depicts a requirement for a clearer distinction of roles within the firm.

Recommendation: To address this, the firm ought to consider utilizing devoted authoritative staff answerable for dealing with non-legitimate assignments. This essential move wouldn't just smooth out tasks but additionally empower registered migration agents (RMAs) and lawful understudies to commit their time and assets to regions where they can offer the most value— giving particular migration help and legitimate advice. Such a role explanation would upgrade effectiveness, further develop administration quality, and guarantee consistency with proficient principles

2. Handling of Cash Payments and Discounts:

The firm’s present practice concerning cash payment and providing discounts raises concerns regarding the financial management as well as upkeep of records. Clause 5.3 of the Code provides mandate of financial record keeping for maintaining transparency followed by accountability in respect of financial dealings. The deficit of accurate accounting for the cash transactions as well as discounts can mainly compromise the compliance of the firm with the requirement that risks the financial record integrity thereby lowering the client’s trust

Recommendation: To relieve this risk, the firm ought to carry out a strong financial convention incorporating electronic tracking of every single financial exchange. This framework ought to incorporate detailed records of money receipts, installments, and any limits applied, guaranteeing full transparency and responsibility. Moreover, instructing all staff individuals on these financial conventions is critical to prevent any future misusing of assets. This approach wouldn't just adjust the firm to the regulatory prerequisites yet additionally reinforce client trust in the company's financial practices.

3. Marketing Practices and Client Privacy

The firm’s approach to marketing mainly in the client’s publication of immigration successes and personal locators on social media leads to major privacy concerns.

This practice leads to celebration and promotion of the firm’s attainments can majorly infringes the rights of the clients to confidentiality as stated by Clause 8.5 of the Code of Conduct . This clause prescribed that migration agents must protect the information of the client thereby ensuring the same is not disclosed without consent

Recommendation: To line up with these commitments, the firm ought to redesign its showcasing methodologies to focus on client protection. This incorporates getting clear, composed assent from clients before distributing any of their own case results.

4. Bipartisanship in Client Representation

The practice of the firm in the representation of multiple parties within the single visa application projects a complex ethical landscape. It might not be expressly forbidden, Clause 2.18 of the Code needs migration agents to manage such scenarios with proper care for avoiding conflict of interest and ensuring the legitimate interest of the clients are served. Such demand leads to high degree of transparency followed by impartiality in their dealings .

Recommendation: To guarantee consistence with this clause, the firm ought to lay out a far-reaching strategy for overseeing cases that include various parties. This arrangement ought to frame systems for getting educated assent from every involved party, obviously making sense of the potential for conflicts of interest and how these will be managed

Implementation of Recommendations

The following steps are recommended for ensuring compliance with the Migration Agents Code of Conduct Regulations 2021

• Develop Clear Policies and Procedures: Formalize strategies that characterize roles and obligations, particularly recognizing legitimate and managerial undertakings. This will assist with explaining assumptions to all staff individuals.

• Implement Financial Controls: Establish thorough financial conventions for dealing with money and recording transactions. This ought to incorporate secure money-taking care practices and normal reviews to guarantee consistency with financial administration guidelines.

• Revise Marketing and Communication Strategies: Guarantee that any open communication, including social media posts, sticks to security principles and incorporates assent from clients.

• Conflict of Interest Policy: Present a thorough conflict of interest policy that frames how to oversee cases including relatives or other possible struggles.

This approach ought to incorporate systems for straightforward communication and informed assent from all gatherings.

Conclusion

The concerns identified in the 360 performance review projects areas where the migration firm’s practices might not fully links with the Migration (Migration Agents Code of Conduct) Regulations 2021. Through addressing the issues with clear policies and proper process the firm can increase its compliance with the Code hence enhancing the service quality and maintenance of trust with the clients.

Bibliography

Code of Conduct for Registered Migration Agents Current from 18 (2017) <https://www.mara.gov.au/tools-for-agents-subsite/Files/code-of-conduct.pdf>
Kalemba, Sunganani V et al, ‘Has the Decline in the Intensity of Internal Migration Been Accompanied by Changes in Reasons for Migration?’ (2022) 39(3) Journal of Population Research

Larres, Patricia and Martin Kelly, ‘A Framework for Authentic Ethical Decision Making in the Face of Grand Challenges: A Lonerganian Gradation’ (2021) 182(2) Journal of Business Ethics
Austlii, ‘MIGRATION AGENTS REGULATIONS 1998 No. 53 - SCHEDULE 2’, classic.austlii.edu.au (2022) <https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_reg/mar1998n53314/sch2.html>

Code of Conduct , ‘Code of Conduct’, ONEderland Consulting (2023) <https://onederland.com.au/code-of-conduct/#:~:text=2.1B.>