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APPENDICES

• – Appendix 1: External scrutiny
• – Appendix 2: Advertising and market research
• – Appendix 3: Information Publication Scheme
• – Appendix 4: Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance
• – Appendix 5: Work health and safety
• – Appendix 6: Consultants
• – Appendix 7: Advisory board—terms of reference
• – Appendix 8: Performance information and outcomes

Appendix 1: External scrutiny

During 2012–13 there were no judicial decisions of administrative tribunals with a significant impact on the Authority’s operations. There were no reports on the operations of the Authority by the Auditor-General, any parliamentary committee or the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

Appendix 2: Advertising and market research

The Authority did not undertake any advertising campaigns in 2012–13.

Appendix 3: Information Publication Scheme

Agencies subject to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) are required to publish information to the public as part of the Information Publication Scheme (IPS). This requirement is in Part II of the FOI Act. It has replaced the former requirement to publish a section 8 statement in the annual report. Each agency must display on its website a plan showing what information it publishes in accordance with the IPS requirements. The Authority complies with this requirement through the publication of documents on its own website, www.mara.gov.au, and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s website, www.immi.gov.au.

Appendix 4: Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance

The Authority complies with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s National Environmental Policy, which recognises that all activities, products and services within its defined scope have an impact on the environment.

Appendix 5: Work health and safety

Information relevant to the Authority is included in the annual report for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Appendix 6: Consultants

Annual reports contain information about actual expenditure on contracts for consultancies. Information on the value of contracts and consultancies is available on the AusTender website, www.tenders.gov.au. During 2012–13 the Authority entered into one new consultancy contract, involving total actual expenditure of $9845. In addition, one ongoing consultancy contract was active during 2012–13, involving total actual expenditure of $1315.

Table 17: Expenditure on consultants, 2010–11 to 2012–13

Financial year	2010–11	2011–12	2012–13
Total	$272 017	$146 194	$11 161

Appendix 7: Advisory board—terms of reference

1. Functions

The Office of the MARA advisory board provides advice to the Office of the MARA’s CEO in relation to:

The Office of the MARA advisory board can also provide advice on broad policy issues relating to the migration advice profession as appropriate, including, for example, consumer protection issues.

2. Powers

The Office of the MARA advisory board operates in an advisory capacity to the Office of the MARA and has no legal status or decision-making capacity in relation to the functions of the Office of the MARA.

3. Membership

The Chair of the Office of the MARA advisory board will be independent of the profession and the department and is appointed by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. The Chair will be supported by a Deputy Chair.

Membership of the Office of the MARA advisory board includes, but is not limited to, a consumer representative, a community representative, a nominee from the Law Council of Australia and a nominee from the Migration Institute of Australia. Members are appointed by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship. Membership extends only to individuals, and proxies are not permitted to attend in the place of members.

The CEO of the Office of the MARA and a representative of the department will also be members of the advisory board.

4. Appointment terms

The Chair and members will be appointed for a period of two years, with an option for extension at the discretion of the minister.

5. Meetings

Meetings will be held at least quarterly, and organised by the secretariat. In the event fewer than 70 per cent of the members are able to attend, the meeting will be rescheduled.

6. Roles and responsibilities

6.1. The Chair

The Chair:

The Chair will ensure:

6.2. Members

Members are responsible for:

6.3. Chief Executive Officer of the Office of the MARA

The CEO of the Office of the MARA will provide relevant and timely information on the implementation of any key strategies, statistics relating to the operations of the Office of the MARA, work in key areas such as continuing professional development, outcomes of decisions reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and any significant current issues.

6.4. Department of Immigration and Citizenship representative

The department’s representative will provide relevant and timely information on departmental activities of relevance to the Office of the MARA’s regulatory functions, such as recent legislative or policy changes impacting on the Office of the MARA.

Appendix 8: Performance information and outcomes

Information relevant to the Authority is included in the annual report for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. For convenience, this information is also reported below.

Table 18: Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority—deliverables

Indicator: Improved level of consumer understanding of what they can expect from registered migration agents and how those agents are regulated.

Result: Deliverable substantially met Feedback received by the Authority from community groups, and data relating to electronic downloads and requests for printed publications, provides anecdotal evidence that the information products developed by the Authority are relevant to and useful for consumers. Key information publications are now available for download on the website in seven additional languages, bringing the total number of languages available to 31. Tracking of electronic downloads of these publications shows that the new language versions are being accessed, a strong indication that these communication products are addressing a previously unmet need within the community. Two media releases in 2012–13 have resulted in newspaper and television coverage of disciplinary decisions made to cancel the registration of agents for reasons relating to their conduct. This publicity has served to highlight the role and functions of the Authority and raise consumer awareness about the professional standards expected of migration agents. As part of its stakeholder engagement plan, the Authority has continued to meet with community groups and settlement workers to help raise the level of consumer awareness of the Authority and the importance of using a registered migration agent.

Indicator: New registrations or re-registration applications finalised within service standards.

Result: Deliverable met The Authority continued to exceed the service standards for processing new and repeat registration applications. These service standards are: finalisation of 95 per cent of complete initial registration applications within four weeks of the objection period elapsing—the standard achieved decreased slightly from 99.1 per cent in 2011–12 to 97.4 per cent finalisation of 95 per cent of complete repeat registration applications within four weeks of receipt—the standard achieved decreased slightly from 98.9 per cent in 2011–12 to 97.9 per cent.

Indicator: Effective continuing professional development activities offered to registered migration agents.

Result: Deliverable met At 30 June 2013, 358 approved CPD activities, encompassing a variety of delivery modes, were available through 52 providers. The Authority approved 138 new activities submitted during 2012–2013, having assessed each activity against the requisite conditions for approval. During the year, the Authority evaluated 40 activities to ensure that they were delivering the targeted learning outcomes.

Indicator: Efficient resolution of complaints about registered or formerly registered migration agents.

Result: Deliverable substantially met In 2012–13, 407 complaints were received or reopened and 527 were finalised. The implementation of the recommendations of the complaints handling review to resolve complaints involving minor issues in a more timely manner with an educative focus has resulted in a continued reduction of on-hand complaint numbers. The number of on-hand complaints fell from 278 on 1 July 2012 to 158 on 30 June 2013, a reduction of 43.2 per cent of total on-hand numbers. There is a continued trend of reduction of on-hand cases since 1 July 2012. Complaints took an average of 7.5 months to finalise in 2012–13. In addition, 63.3 per cent of on-hand complaint numbers were under 6 months old. This compares to an average of 8.4 months in 2011–12 and 49.3 per cent of on-hand complaints under 6 months old at 30 June 2012.

Table 19: Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority—key performance information

Key performance indicators	2012–13 target (%)	2012–13 results (%)
Percentage of the MARA’s stakeholders who find information products useful and informative	>60.0	>60.0
Percentage of complete registration applications finalised within service standards	95.0	97.4
Percentage of registered migration agents who participated in continuing professional development activities and found them useful.	>65.0	>65.0
Percentage of registered migration agents applying for repeat registration who are compliance checked	100.0	100.0
Percentage of complaints finalised within service standards	100.0	75.8

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