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2002
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
MIGRATION AGENTS REGISTRATION
APPLICATION CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL 2002
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of
the
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs,
The
Hon. Philip Ruddock MP)
MIGRATION AGENTS REGISTRATION APPLICATION CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL
2002
OUTLINE
1. The Migration Agents Registration
Application Charge Amendment Bill 2002 (“the Bill”) amends the
Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Act 1997 (“the
Act”) to increase the amount of the migration agents' registration
application charge limit.
2. The Migration Act 1958 provides a
scheme for regulating the migration advice industry and those who seek to
practice as migration agents.
3. A migration agent is an individual who
uses their knowledge or experience in migration procedure to give what is
defined in the Migration Act 1958 as “immigration
assistance”.
4. The regulatory framework requires the registration
of people who provide immigration assistance to visa applicants.
5. To
apply for registration as a migration agent a person must pay the relevant
application charge set out in the Migration Agents Registration Application
Charge Regulations 1998 (“the Regulations”).
6. This
amendment will enable future increases in registration application charges where
appropriate.
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
7. This amendment
will have no direct financial impact as it merely increases the upper limit of
the charge for making a migration agents' registration application. The actual
registration application charge payable on an individual's making of a
registration application is set out in the Regulations.
MIGRATION AGENTS REGISTRATION APPLICATION CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL
2002
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL CLAUSES
Clause
1 Short title
1. The short title by which this Act may be
cited is the Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Amendment Act
2002.
Clause 2 Commencement
2. Subclause 2(1)
provides that this Act commences on the day on which it receives the Royal
Assent.
Clause 3 Schedule(s)
3. This clause provides that
each Act specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out
in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned. In addition, any other item
in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
SCHEDULE 1 – Amendment of the Migration Agents Registration Application Charge
Item 1 Subsection 7(1)
4. This item omits the words
“1998 is $1,100” from subsection 7(1) of the Act and substitutes the
words “2002 is $1,800”. This amendment increases the migration
agents' registration application charge limit. The actual amount of charge
payable by migration agents is set out in the Migration Agents Registration
Application Charge Regulations 1998.
5. This item provides that despite the amendment to section 7 contained in item 1 of this Schedule, that section continues to apply as if that amendment had not been made to registration applications made in:
• the financial year that began on 1 July 2000; or
• an
earlier financial year.
6. This item clarifies that the amount of charge payable for the making of a
registration application during the period:
• beginning on 1 July
2001; and
• ending immediately before the commencement of this
item;
must not exceed the amount that would have been the charge limit
for the financial year that began on 1 July 2001 if the amendment of section 7
of the Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Act 1997, made by
item 1 of this Schedule, had not been made.