CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S REPORT

Chief Executive Officer
I am very pleased to report on the second year of operation of the Office of the MARA. During this year, we have continued to build on the solid framework that has been established and have extended our initiatives in cooperation with stakeholders. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of our achievements.

Communication and stakeholder engagement

A key initiative has been the implementation of the communications strategy, which has an emphasis on connecting with consumers and ensuring that we send a strong message about using a registered migration agent. The ethnic media strategy and translated booklets were both significant projects that enhanced our communication to people of non-English speaking background.

In addition, we continued to engage with stakeholders to better understand the issues affecting them and how these could be addressed in the most practical way. This has included the professional associations, other regulatory bodies and migrant services organisations. I have also had the opportunity to engage with overseas counterparts on issues of mutual interest.

Professional development and ethics

An important step in enhancing the skills development of registered migration agents has been the completion of competency standards and the mapping of these to graduate attributes. These form the basis for both the initial entry qualification and for ongoing professional development. During the year, improvements were made to the continuing professional development framework to increase the standard, choice and variety of learning.

I am delighted that the Office of the MARA has been able to facilitate the development of tools that will further support agents in serving their clients and meeting their obligations as professionals. With the principle that ‘ethics is the very soul of professionalism’1 we have developed an ethics toolkit, which has received very positive feedback. We also began work on a separate toolkit for the handling of client monies and the introduction of a practice-ready program.

1 Eliot Freidson, 2001. Professionalism, the Third Logic: On the Practice of Knowledge. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Performance

The Office of the MARA ended the year 2010–11 with most of its key performance indicators being met. Our results and an explanation of our operations follow in this report. The achievements in 2010–11 directly resulted from the dedication and hard work of all staff within the office, underpinned by strong collaboration with stakeholders. The continued advice and leadership of our advisory board was a key element in advancing initiatives for the benefit of the profession.

There is always room for improvement and we will continue to listen to our clients and stakeholders to ensure that our services are at the standard required.

I am confident that we are on the right path toward our inspirational statement of ‘ethical agents, empowered consumers and engaged stakeholders’ and we are excited about the future opportunities we have to enhance the migration advice profession.

 

Signature

Christine Sykes
Chief Executive Officer