Michael was formerly a senior executive officer of the Australia Immigration Department for over 39 years. He previously held diplomatic postings to Fiji, Thailand, Greece and the UK in a specialist immigration role. His last two postings have been to Dubai where he had the duel role of countering threats to Australia’s border security and visa program integrity with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) States and Iran.

Michael also served for two years as the Immigration Departmental Liaison Officer within the Ministerial offices of two Australian Government Immigration Ministers. In this role he provided complex and sensitive operational, legislative and policy advice to the Minister.

In 2009 Michael played a lead role in the successful negotiation of a $500 million contract for the provision to detention services to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.

Michael is a Registered Migration and holds a Graduate Certificate in Australian Immigration Law and Practice from Victoria University.

He is also a member of the Migration Institute of Australia.

Michael’s extensive specialist immigration background is based on a long and varied career within the Department of Immigration as a senior manager. He has;

• an extensive knowledge of  Australian visa legislation and policy;
• a full and detailed understanding of the various visa categories;
• a specialised knowledge and familiarity with the complex visa process; and
• an internationally recognised understanding  and experience with Australia visa systems.

In addition to his overseas service  managing the Australian visa processing operations in Fiji, Thailand, Greece, the UK and twice in Dubai he has also managed onshore visa services in the Darwin, Sydney and the ACT Regional Offices.

His most recent role was as Assistant Director, Immigration Intelligence Branch, where he had a lead role in supporting the Australian Government’s efforts to combat human trafficking and people smuggling on a global basis.

Michael represented the Australian Government at numerous international forums focusing on immigration border management, including keynote presentations and leading expert panel groups. He has also developed and delivered targeted capacity building training focussing on Threat & Risk Analysis, Immigration Intelligence Analysis and the implementation of risk mitigation strategies to border control agency staff in the Middle East, South East Asia, the Pacific, South America and Africa.

Michael has extensive experience working with airlines and border control agencies in the Middle East, South East Asia, South America and Africa. He has provided advice and training to airline security officers who screen passengers travelling to Australia as well as operational advice on Australia’s multilayered border management processes.