Migration (Specified Courses and Exams for Registration as a Migration Agent) Instrument 2026
1Migration (Specified Courses and Exams for Registration as a Migration Agent) Instrument 2026
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Migration (Specified Courses and Exams for Registration as a Migration Agent) Instrument 2026
I, Julian Hill, Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, make the following instrument.
Dated 11 March 2026
Julian Hill
Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs
Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
2 Commencement
3 Authority
4 Definitions
5 Schedules
Part 2—Specified prescribed courses and examinations for registration as a Migration Agent
6 Specified prescribed courses
7 Specified prescribed examinations
8 Specified minimum score to be achieved in a prescribed examination
9 Specified periods for completion of a prescribed examination
Part 3—Application and transitional provisions
10 Application of this instrument
11 Specified evidence for registration applications—prescribed course undertaken before the commencement of this instrument
12 Specified evidence for registration applications—specified minimum score to be achieved in the TOEFL iBT
Schedule 1—Specified minimum examination scores
Schedule 2—Specified countries
Schedule 3—Repeals
Migration (IMMI 18/003: Specified courses and exams for registration as a migration agent) Instrument 2018
Part 1—Preliminary
1 Name
This instrument is the Migration (Specified Courses and Exams for Registration as a Migration Agent) Instrument 2026.
2 Commencement
This instrument commences on 1 April 2026.
3 Authority
This instrument is made under subsection 30(4) of the Migration Agents Regulations 2026 and under the Migration Agents Regulations 1998.
Note: The repeal of the Migration (IMMI 18/003: Specified courses and exams for registration as a migration agent) Instrument 2018, specified in Schdule 3, is done under the Migration Agents Regulations 1998, as an instrument made under Those Regulations.
4 Definitions
Act means the Migration Act 1958.
applicant means a person who has made an application to be registered as a migration agent under subsection 288(1) of the Act.
Authority means the Migration Agents Registration Authority.
Capstone Assessment means the ‘Migration Agents Capstone Assessment’ offered by Legal Training Australia Pty Ltd (ABN 81151154639).
C1 Advanced means the Cambridge Advanced Test.
IELTS Academic test means the International English Language Testing System Academic test.
LanguageCert Academic means the LanguageCert Academic Test.
MET means the Michigan English Test.
PTE Academic means the Pearson Test of English Academic.
registration application means an application to be registered as a migration agent.
Regulations means the Migration Agents Regulations 2026.
TOEFL iBT means the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-Based Test.
5 Schedules
Each instrument that is specified in a Schedule to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
Part 2—Specified prescribed courses and examinations for registration as a Migration Agent
6 Specified prescribed courses
(1) For the purposes of subsection 30(2) of the Regulations, each of the following courses is specified as a prescribed course:
(a) the Graduate Diploma in Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by Murdoch University;
(b) the Graduate Diploma in Migration Law offered by Victoria University;
(c) the Graduate Diploma of Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by Griffith University;
(d) the Graduate Diploma in Australian Migration Law offered by Western Sydney University;
(e) the Graduate Diploma in Migration Law and Practice offered by the University of Technology Sydney;
(f) the Graduate Diploma in Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by the Australian Catholic University;
(g) the Master of Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by the Australian Catholic University.
(2) For the purposes of subsection 30(2) of the Regulations, each of the following courses, if completed before 1 January 2018, is specified:
(a) the Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by the Australian National University;
(b) the Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by Griffith University;
(c) the Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by Murdoch University;
(d) the Graduate Certificate in Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by Victoria University.
7 Specified prescribed examinations
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 30(3)(a) of the Regulations, the Capstone Assessment is specified as the prescribed examination for:
(a) a person who meets all of the following requirements:
(i) the person has successfully completed secondary school studies to the equivalent of the Australian Year 12 level, with a minimum of 4 years’ study at a secondary school or equivalent;
(ii) the person has successfully completed a Bachelor degree, or a higher degree with a minimum of 3 years’ equivalent full-time study;
(iii) for the education mentioned in subparagraphs (1)(a)(i) and (1)(a)(ii)—that education was:
completed at an education institution in one or more of the countries specified in an item of the table in Schedule 2 while the person was living in that country; and
(B) conducted in English as the primary language of instruction; or
(b) a person who meets all of the following requirements:
(i) the person has successfully completed the equivalent of secondary school studies to the Australian Year 10 or Australian Year 12 level;
(ii) the person has successfully completed at least 10 years of primary and secondary schooling at an education institution in one of the countries specified in an item of the table in Schedule 2 while the person was living in that country;
(iii) the person provides evidence that the education mentioned in subparagraphs (1)(b)(i) and (1)(b)(ii) was conducted in English as the primary language of instruction.
(2) For the purposes of paragraph 30(3)(a) of the Regulations, if a person is not in a class of persons mentioned in paragraph (1)(a) or (b), the prescribed examination is specified to be a combination of the following:
(a) the Capstone Assessment; and
(b) any of the following examinations in English language proficiency:
(i) IELTS Academic test;
(ii) TOEFL iBT;
(iii) C1 Advanced;
(iv) LanguageCert Academic;
(v) MET;
(vi) PTE Academic.
8 Specified minimum score to be achieved in a prescribed examination
(1) For the purposes of paragraph 30(3)(b) of the Regulations, the minimum score to be achieved by a person covered by subsection 7(2) for a prescribed examination specified in paragraph 7(2)(b) is specified in the column of the table in Schedule 1 that mentions the examination (in the heading of that column).
(2) The specified required minimum score must be achieved in a single sitting, unless the specified language test is an IELTS Academic test or a MET.
9 Specified periods for completion of a prescribed examination
For the purposes of paragraph 30(3)(c) of the Regulations, the following periods for the completion of a prescribed examination specified in section 7 are specified:
(a) for the Capstone Assessment—within a 12-month period from the day the person achieves the required score;
(b) for the prescribed examinations mentioned in paragraph 7(2)(b)—within the 3-year period that ends immediately before the day on which a person covered by subsection 7(2) makes an application for registration.
Part 3—Application and transitional provisions
10 Application of this instrument
This instrument applies in relation to a registration application made on or after the commencement of this instrument.
11 Specified evidence for registration applications—prescribed course undertaken before the commencement of this instrument
For the purposes of subsection 30(2) of the Regulations, the Master of Australian Migration Law and Practice offered by Griffith University is specified as a prescribed course where a person:
(a) makes a registration application; and
(b) provides evidence as part of the application that the course:
(i) commenced before the commencement of this instrument; and
(ii) was completed:
(A) before the commencement of this instrument; or
(B) in the period that ends 12 months from the day on which this instrument commences.
12 Specified evidence for registration applications—specified minimum score to be achieved in the TOEFL iBT
For the purposes of paragraph 30(3)(b) of the Regulations, the TOEFL iBT is specified as a prescribed examination where an applicant:
(a) makes a registration application:
(i) before the commencement of this instrument and the Authority has not made a decision in relation to that application at the time the instrument commences; or
(ii) on or after the commencement of this instrument; and
(b) provides evidence that the applicant:
(i) attempted the TOEFL iBT either:
(A) before the commencement of this instrument; or
(B) in the period that ends 3 months from the day on which this instrument commences; and
(ii) achieved the minimum score that is specified in the following table for the test, within the period of 2 years immediately before the applicant makes the registration application.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
7
United States of America
Schedule 3—Repeals
Migration (IMMI 18/003: Specified courses and exams for registration as a migration agent) Instrument 2018
1 The whole of the instrument
Repeal the instrument.
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