9.4 OMARA Discipline, Statutory Cooperation, and Current CPD

9.4 OMARA Discipline, Statutory Cooperation, and Current CPD

OMARA protects consumers through registration assessment, monitoring, complaint handling, investigation, and discipline. A complaint is not itself proof of misconduct, but the agent must preserve records, cooperate lawfully, and respond with candour.

Discipline and procedural fairness

Section 303 of the Migration Act permits OMARA, on the statutory grounds, to caution, suspend, or cancel an RMA’s registration. Grounds can include Code non-compliance, lack of integrity or fitness, and other specified conduct. Section 304 limits a suspension period to no more than five years. Cancellation, suspension, and barring consequences should be read from the current Act; they are not private contractual sanctions.

Before adverse action, the Authority must provide the notice and opportunity to respond required by the Act and procedural fairness. The agent should address each allegation, distinguish agreed facts from disputes, provide primary records, explain remediation without minimising harm, and meet the stated deadline. Relevant decisions can be reviewed by the Administrative Review Tribunal under section 306.

Requests for information and documents

Different powers must not be collapsed into an invented “section 308 notice.” Code section 32 requires a prompt and complete response to OMARA requests made for specified regulatory functions. The Migration Act also contains formal powers, including section 305C, under which prescribed information or documents can be required; non-compliance with that provision carries the statutory consequence stated there. Sections 306D and 308 address other contexts.

The correct workflow is to identify the notice’s actual provision, addressee, scope, deadline, service, privilege implications, and offence provision. Preserve documents and seek independent legal advice where self-incrimination, privilege, privacy, or disciplinary exposure arises. Never alter a client file after receiving a request except through a transparent correction or supplemental note.

Continuing professional development

RMAs ordinarily need 10 CPD points for repeat registration. Under the 2026 instrument effective 1 April 2026, the current program ordinarily includes both:

• one point in Ethical Standards; and
• one point in the RMA Code of Conduct.

The instrument also generally limits online CPD credit to six points in a 24-hour period and requires private-study assessment within 12 months of enrolment. OMARA has published transitional arrangements for qualifying activities completed or commenced before 1 July 2026 and used with applications lodged by the stated transition date. Check the current CPD record and transition rule rather than assuming old Ethics-or-Practice-Management content remains sufficient.

Professional development is more than point collection. Code section 22 requires current knowledge and access to a professional library. A practice should use errors, peer feedback, legislative change, complaint trends, and competency self-assessment to plan learning.

Unregistered assistance offences

Section 280 restricts giving immigration assistance while unregistered, subject to the statutory framework. Section 281 addresses asking for or receiving a fee or reward for such assistance and carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment. Do not add a “1,000 penalty units” alternative that is not in the provision. Related holding-out and advertising offences protect the public from false claims of registration.

Complaint scenario

OMARA requests a service agreement, client file, money records, and explanation. The RMA should diary the deadline, verify whether the request is under Code section 32 or a statutory provision, preserve the full file, answer every item, and obtain legal advice if needed. Sending selected favourable pages while omitting responsive records can compound the original issue.

Regulatory-response and learning plan

Create one register for complaints, OMARA requests, statutory notices, insurer notifications, remediation, and deadlines. On receipt, preserve the original communication and full affected files, identify the legal source, assign an independent reviewer, and prohibit undocumented alteration. Respond to every numbered request with a cross-reference to the supplied record; if something does not exist, say so accurately rather than creating it retrospectively. Separate factual explanation, legal submission, remediation, and evidence. After the matter, conduct a root-cause review covering people, process, workload, supervision, technology, and precedent quality. Convert findings into the Standard 7 development plan and the practice risk register. For CPD, retain provider, activity, date, points, delivery mode, mandatory subject, completion evidence, and reflection, and apply the current transition rules to the particular registration application. This combined system shows that cooperation, procedural fairness, discipline, competence, and risk improvement are connected rather than isolated compliance events.