Agents on parental leave, recovering from illness or working overseas often ask the OMARA for a CPD exemption or extension. The honest answer is that the framework has almost none. Here is what the rules provide, what the regulator can and cannot do, and the realistic options.
The Migration Act requires the OMARA to refuse repeat registration unless it is satisfied you have met the CPD requirement. There is no exemption for parental leave, illness, bereavement, reduced hours or time overseas. The only exemption is for agents who hold a current Australian legal practising certificate.
Section 290A of the Migration Act 1958 directs the OMARA not to register an applicant for repeat registration if it is not satisfied the applicant has met the prescribed CPD requirements. The requirements themselves are in the Migration Agents Regulations and LIN 26/001: 10 points in the 12 months before lodgement, at least 5 Category A, 1 ethics point and 1 Code of Conduct point. None of those instruments contains a hardship, parental-leave or reduced-activity provision. The regulator has no discretion to waive the points.
Registered agents who hold a current Australian legal practising certificate are exempt from the CPD requirement for repeat registration. Since 2021 that mostly means lawyers with a restricted practising certificate who are still on the register for a transitional period. The practising-certificate exemption →
| Situation | What the rules allow |
|---|---|
| On parental leave, but intend to keep the registration | Complete the 10 points anyway. Five can be self-paced modules done at any hour; the five Category A points are live Zoom sessions, typically a weekend. The 6-points-per-24-hours cap means at least two days. |
| Ill or unable to work for months | Same requirement. If completing CPD is not possible, let the registration lapse and lodge a late repeat application within 36 months, once you have 10 points in the 12 months before that application. |
| Working or living overseas | Location is irrelevant. Online CPD is completed from anywhere; all Widen sessions are on Zoom in Sydney time. Time zones → |
| Registration about to expire, a few points short | Do not lodge a knowingly incomplete application and hope. The OMARA may ask for evidence of outstanding points before deciding, but it must refuse if the requirement is not met. Finish first, then lodge. |
| Not practising this year at all | Let it lapse. You cannot give immigration assistance while unregistered, but you can lodge a late repeat application within 36 months of expiry with 10 points in the 12 months before that lodgement. After 36 months, initial registration applies again. |
If you lodged and paid before expiry, your registration continues while the application is processed, but that continuation ends with a refusal. How the deadline and window work →
Because the points cannot be waived, the question becomes how to earn them with the least disruption. For an agent with limited hours that is usually: both mandatory topics as self-paced modules (two evenings), three more modules at your own pace, and one CPD Weekend for the five live points. Ten points, no travel, no weekday commitments.
OMARA-approved provider PPA10000420. Live Category A sessions and self-paced Category B modules — including the mandatory ethics and Code of Conduct topics — at A$30 incl. GST each, or a 10-point CPD Points Pass for A$220 that covers the whole year.
See upcoming CPD sessions Points Pass — 10 points A$220← Back to the full CPD requirements guide
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Running a migration practice? Widen also does nomination documents, GPS statements, AMSR reports and 407 training plans for agents — see agent services.