OPERATIONAL REPORTS

• The Authority attended over 60 stakeholder events, including meetings, conferences and presentations, across Australia and internationally.
• The advisory board met four times.
• The number of languages in which information products are published increased.

The Authority has continued its programme of broad stakeholder engagement throughout 2013–14, with greater emphasis on consumers and community groups. Staff met with a range of community groups, registered migration agents, professional associations and industry bodies as well as a number of businesses and government agencies. Stakeholder feedback obtained from these engagement activities is used to focus regulatory activities on areas of greatest need to promote consumer protection.

Where possible, stakeholder engagement is arranged to coincide with key events, such as conferences, at various national venues throughout the year. This cost-effective approach enables staff who attend those events to visit a number of registered migration agents and community groups in the same locations. Authority attendees can also visit continuous professional development (CPD) providers and evaluate activities. There has been positive feedback from registered migration agents on the opportunities they have had to raise issues directly with the Authority.

Other Authority stakeholder engagement activities in 2013–14 included:

Senior staff have attended various stakeholder consultation workshops and visited regional areas, including Townsville, Cairns and the Gold Coast, to meet with local registered migration agents, settlement service providers and departmental staff. The visits have led to a greater understanding of issues affecting agents and consumers in regional areas.

Authority staff who visited regional areas also had the opportunity to conduct voluntary monitoring visits to migration advice businesses. The monitoring visits helped the Authority to better understand the business operations of agents and provide educative advice on best practice models to enhance consumer protection and promote compliance with the code of conduct.

The Authority regularly engages in dialogue with the New Zealand Immigration Advisers Authority—the regulator of licensed immigration advisers in New Zealand. The most recent meeting was held on 22–23 May 2014 in Sydney. Issues of common interest, such as the operation of the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement and professional standards, were discussed.

The Authority continues to seek opportunities for international engagement through its involvement in the Five Country Conference Informal Working Group for Immigration Advisors. The Authority participates in a regulators’ teleconference that includes counterpart agencies from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States. Over the past year, specific bilateral engagements with the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council and the New Zealand Immigration Advisers Authority have proven to be useful learning and sharing experiences, particularly where IT improvements are being implemented in the respective regimes.

This year the Authority’s consumer publications the Consumer guide and Your rights—tips for using a registered migration agent were published in an additional four languages—German, Greek, Italian and Turkish—and are available for download from the Authority’s website. These documents are now available in 35 languages, including English. In 2013–14 these publications were most commonly accessed in Chinese, Arabic, Farsi (Persian), Russian and Hindi.

Other communication initiatives undertaken this year included:

Since the introduction of its new database and website, the Authority has been receiving more consumer enquiries. In particular, there was an increase in the number of contacts from consumers checking whether companies or individuals who had approached them offering migration services were genuine registered agents.

Since January 2014, the Authority has answered more than 1500 enquiries by directing consumers to its ‘Search for an agent’ facility and stressing the importance of and benefits from using a registered migration agent. This message has been reinforced through the department’s YouTube channel and the migration blog. In addition, the Authority has handled more than 1200 telephone enquiries from consumers about registered migration agents and in the course of answering them has promoted the use of registered migration agents.

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The Authority delivered fairly wide-ranging enhancements to its website and online offerings in November 2013. Some technical issues were anticipated and experienced during the implementation of the new system; however, feedback indicates that the improvements have generally been well received. Faster processing times have been achieved and these should continue to improve as processes are bedded down.

A significant area of improvement in this implementation has been the roll-out of a more user-friendly website that enhances the Authority’s service to its key stakeholders. In addition to an upgraded design, the website offers:

A fully online application system has been implemented; this has allowed the Authority to refine its processes and deliver more deregulation measures to benefit businesses and key stakeholders.

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The Authority developed its business plan for 2014–15 with input from staff and the advisory board.

Relevant to the Authority’s considerations were the department’s Strategic Intent and Enterprise Risk Map for 2014–15. The Authority’s focus for the coming year will be working with the department on matters relevant to the significant agency restructure; facilitating an independent review of the Authority; and adopting a more risk-based approach to our operations.

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As at 30 June 2014, the Authority had four contractors in addition to its 32 permanent staff. Staffing levels have been reduced following the implementation of a new IT system for the office and the cessation of temporary staff.

During 2013–14 the Authority continued to closely manage probity arrangements. All staff and contractors attended probity training and the Authority promptly addressed conflict-of-interest issues—an outcome that attests to the success of existing probity strategies.

In August 2013, PSI Asia Pacific Pty Ltd conducted an independent review and provided advice on appropriate management strategies to deal with probity risks, particularly in the context of information exchange with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and other government agencies, strategic alliances and partnerships, contractual relationships, and stakeholder engagement.

Across the four areas that were the focus of this review, 14 probity risks were identified and 32 mitigation strategies were proposed. The review found no particular areas that would put the Authority in jeopardy. The advisory board and the departmental audit committee considered the review recommendations.

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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 2013–14 one new consultancy contract, involving total actual expenditure of $46 257, was entered into. In addition, one payment was made on a previous consultancy contract, involving total actual expenditure of $7581.

Table 7: Expenditure on consultants, 2011–12 to 2013–14

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During 2013–14 the Authority arranged Google advertising to improve search engine optimisation in Australia, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and India. The advertising was designed to improve awareness of the Authority’s website and alert consumers to the benefits of using registered migration agents. The advertising was conducted during June 2013 by the media advertising organisation Mediabrands Australia trading as Universal McCann. The total cost was $14 204. Results show that the advertising was most effective in India and Malaysia.

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Under Part II of the Freedom of Information Act 1982, agencies subject to the Act are required to publish information to the public as part of the Information Publication Scheme (IPS). Each agency must display on its website a plan showing what information it publishes, in accordance with the IPS requirements.

This requirement replaces the former requirement to publish a s. 8 statement in the annual report.

The Authority complies with the new requirement by publishing documents on its own website—www.mara.gov.au—and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection’s website: www.immi.gov.au

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