Introduction

The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) is the peak professional association focused on the specialised legal area of migration law. Established in 1992, today the MIA has over 1850 members representing almost half the 3800 registered migration agents (RMAs).

Business Overview

The Institute’s objectives include advancing the knowledge and practice of migration consulting, establishing and administering standards of professional conduct and liaison with Commonwealth and State governments on migration matters. The MIA provides a medium for conveying migration policy information to members and a forum for the exchange of ideas and information between members.

Immigration has been and remains today crucial to Australia’s economic, cultural and social development. The effects of the global marketplace combined with the ageing population and skills shortages are contributing to a growing demand for skilled workers and consequently for migration and related services.

There are few other fields where the simple decision by a government official to grant a visa or decline an application can have such a large impact on the lives of individuals and their families. Given the frequency of legislation changes, an interest in lifelong learning and continuing professional development are necessary attributes for registered migration agents.

The Challenges

The Institute needs to service two distinct educational markets: the continuing professional development (CPD) of existing registered migration agents and the entry-level education of aspiring migration agents.

In 1998, the MIA was appointed by the then Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs as the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA) to regulate the registration, continuing professional development and conduct of migration agents. This was a major responsibility for a small association to accept—and one that presented significant challenges.

A key challenge was how to progressively raise the registration knowledge requirement for non-lawyers in order to transform the industry into a true profession. The MIA has successfully raised this knowledge standard from no regulation to a few approved courses to a common external examination to where it is today - a Graduate Certificate in Migration Law and Practice offered by four of Australia’s major universities. The Migration Institute of Australia (MIA) is the peak professional association focused on the specialised legal area of migration law. Established in 1992, today the MIA has over 1850 members representing almost half the 3800 registered migration agents (RMAs).

Why MIA/Chose EKP

• User friendly interface
• Functionality
• Technical support
• Affordable licence fee

Aspiring migration agents

When the MARA introduced its common sound knowledge entrance examination, the MIA decided to offer a blended semester-length course to prepare people for the exam. As each exam was based on legislation at a specified date, the MIA needed to fully revise and distribute the study materials before each delivery and inform learners in a timely manner. The MIA had to construct and implement the various components of its new courses and launch them quickly with a limited budget whilst expanding its business using this new infrastructure so it could deliver these blended courses globally on a 24x7 basis.

The Solution

Given the volume of the legislation and study materials involved, this was no small undertaking yet, by working closely with NetDimensions partner Global Vision Media (GVM), for training, user interface customization and support, the MIA accomplished its ambitious objective. GVM provided 1-on-1 training and support and created a new skin for the MIA Education Centre that incorporated the Institute’s corporate colors. Over a period of two years, the MIA delivered seven semester-length and five intensive courses to over 730 students.

Registered migration agents

Over the past decade the MIA has been the country’s major CPD provider offering regular face-to-face seminars in every Australian capital city as well as national and state conferences and many other events. The MIA recognizes its broader responsibility to provide CPD to all agents regardless of where they live. They were especially concerned about agents who lived in smaller cities and outside Australia. Having previously offered a range of print-based private study activities, following the implementation of EKP, the MIA was able to upgrade its mail order program to online delivery.

The Solution

The MIA was able to convert its existing courseware for CPD purposes and to use the Enterprise Knowledge Platform (EKP), learning management system to deliver training to agents located anywhere within Australia or offshore. The Institute uses EKP’s automatic notification functions to remind agents of their enrolments and prompt them when they do not access their modules. It has also set up online assessments, which learners must pass in order to successfully complete individual modules. The MIA is steadily growing its catalog and enrolments now exceed 200 modules/month.

Summary

Given the diversity of the migration advice profession and the complexity of Australia’s migration laws, which are only surpassed by taxation laws in volume and frequency of change, the MIA has successfully offered sound knowledge courses to aspiring agents and CPD to existing agents worldwide. EKP’s combination of function, speed of implementation and flexibility enables the MIA to successfully expand its existing education business model to a broader global market, by leveraging existing investments in content development and judiciously exploiting key EKP functionality. The MIA is confident that they will be able to continue to expand their use of EKP as they seek to respond to the professional development challenges and opportunities of the migration advice profession in Australia and offshore.