The Albanese Labor Government is continuing to strengthen the integrity of Australia's migration system, with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) taking regulatory action against three registered migration agents who enabled unlawful immigration assistance.
Labor has strengthened OMARA's regulatory capability, with the regulator now using both investigations and proactive monitoring to improve compliance and professional standards across the migration advice profession.
In three separate cases, registered migration agents allowed unregistered individuals to provide migration assistance using their Migration Agent Registration Numbers (MARNs), commonly known as "front agent" arrangements.
In one case, an agent's registration was cancelled after OMARA found that hundreds of visa applications lodged through three business ImmiAccounts involved either undeclared immigration assistance or immigration assistance provided by non-registered staff.
In a second case, an agent was suspended after admitting his son, who was not a registered migration agent, had provided immigration assistance on behalf of the business. The investigation also identified allegations that clients had been provided with falsified departmental correspondence to create the impression visa applications had been lodged when they hadn't.
In a third matter, an agent was suspended after knowingly allowing another business director to lodge visa applications using his MARN until that individual became qualified as a registered migration agent.
Established in October 2025, OMARA's Monitoring team proactively monitored 85 registered migration agents during 2025-26, identifying 43 instances of non-compliance and addressing them through education, engagement and regulatory action. Alongside the Investigations team, which examines allegations of serious misconduct, OMARA sanctioned 28 registered migration agents in 2025-26.
Anyone with information about unlawful immigration assistance, migration scams or other suspected immigration offences is encouraged to make a report through Border Watch. Reports can be made anonymously.
Quotes attributable to assistant minister for citizenship, customs and multicultural affairs Julian Hill
"Labor's strengthened oversight of migration agents is seeing results. When people pay a migration agent they rightly expect a qualified person will do the work, not an untrained, unregistered fake agent.
"No one would put up with people borrowing registration numbers from doctors, lawyers or financial planners and neither should they when hiring a registered migration agent.
"Most registered migration agents work hard to help their clients and comply with their obligations. A small minority who do the wrong thing are being pursued in Labor's ongoing crackdown."
Quotes attributable to OMARA
"While the vast majority of RMAs act with integrity and professionalism, there is a small cohort who intentionally seek to undermine the migration program for personal gain."
"These actors bring the migration advice profession into disrepute and tarnish the reputation of those RMAs who do the right thing in the best interests of their clients."
"These actors will be identified and removed from the profession."
Further information
- Only registered migration agents (RMAs), Australian legal practitioners or an exempt person can lawfully give immigration assistance in Australia. To find a registered migration agent, search the register of migration agents.
- The Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA) within the Department of Home Affairs is responsible for the regulation of registered migration agents in Australia.
- The OMARA has powers to caution RMAs, suspend or cancel the registration of RMAs or to bar former RMAs from re-registering.
- The OMARA Investigations team investigates allegations of misconduct by current and former RMAs and takes disciplinary action where breaches of the Code of Conduct are identified or where an agent is found not to be fit and proper to provide immigration assistance.
- Complaints about RMAs can be made through the OMARA website at make a complaint about a registered agent (mara.gov.au).
