Conducting your practice within the ethical code of conduct not only keeps your practicing certificate safe, it is also good for business. With the guidance of an experienced migration law barrister gain strategies to ensure that you employ best ethics practices within your firm, ensure that you understand the OMARA Code of Conduct and the notices that can be issued. Unpack how best to respond should you be in the situation of receiving a conduct notice from OMARA or worse, being sanctioned. Essential knowledge for every practitioner.
Friday, 5 December 2025
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD point in Ethics or the Code of Conduct for Migration Agents
Attend and earn 1.5 CPD points in Ethics and Professional Responsibility for Legal Professionals
This program is applicable to practitioners from all States & Territories
Chair:
Michelle Petty-Sampson, Principal Lawyer, Petty Sampson Immigration Lawyers
Ethics and Professional Responsibility
12.00pm to 1.30pm Code of Conduct: Avoiding Complaints & Sanctions in Migration Practice
- Gain an in-depth analysis of the notices the OMARA can give agents and how they should respond to them and to investigations
- Examine how to deal with complaints, the making of admissions and how to avoid complaints in the first place
- Explore several OMARA sanctions, helping participants adopt best practices and avoid conduct conducive to sanctions, along with recent trends relating to enforcement
Presented by Sergio Zanotti Stagliorio, Barrister and Migration Law Lecturer
Presenters
Michelle Petty-Sampson, Principal Lawyer, Petty Sampson Immigration Lawyers
Michelle has been working in the industry for 22 years, firstly as an RMA and then as an Immigration Lawyer. She has worked in Brisbane and Melbourne before starting her own practice in Adelaide in 2020. Her focus is to provide professional, caring and effective immigration legal services in a respectful way. Her qualifications are Bachelor of Laws and Graduate Diploma Legal Practice, Graduate Certificate in Migration Law, Master of Arts in International Studies, Bachelor of Arts, Honours Degree, Asian Studies and Bachelor of Arts, Asian Studies.
Sergio Zanotti Stagliorio, Barrister and Migration Law Lecturer, Castan Chambersxx
Sergio practises in Migration and Citizenship Law. Before becoming a barrister, Sergio worked as an immigration solicitor for a number of years and was an RMA prior to this. This past experience places him well to appreciate all facets of migration and citizenship law matters. As an advocate, Sergio has appeared and represented clients on matters before the High Court of Australia, Federal Court of Australia (including Full Court), Federal Circuit Court of Australia, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia, Migration Review Tribunal, Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Immigration Assessment Authority and the Administrative Review Tribunal. Also Sergio: has authored over 1,300 court decision summaries on migration and citizenship law, most of which for his newsletter (https://migrationlawupdates.com.au), and some for LexisNexis (Administrative Law Decisions); has authored over 1,000 articles and updates on migration and citizenship law, some of which for LexisNexis; is a former assessor at UTS (Graduate Diploma of Australian Migration Law and Practice - GDAMLP); is a former unit coordinator and lecturer at UWS (GDAMLP); has been a migration law CPD lecturer since 2019; is often consulted by barristers, solicitors and RMAs on complex matters; holds a bachelor's degree in engineering.
