A secret blacklist of lawyers and migration agents compiled by the Department of Immigration has been discovered, sparking outrage about the ''vindictiveness'' of the department and calls for an immediate inquiry.

The list of so-called ''agents of concern'' names 30 lawyers and migration agents around the country who have been deemed to be ''high risk'' or of concern by the department, leading to greater scrutiny of their applications for clients seeking partner visas.

"McCarthyism is alive and well ... it's in the Immigration Department.": Greg Barns. Credit:Jacky Ghossein

Some of the lawyers and agents on the covert ''Agents of Concern List A and List B'' have been in business for decades and more than three-quarters of them have never had any official sanction against them.

Documents obtained by The Sun-Herald under freedom of information laws have revealed that Department of Immigration officers were supposed to use the list as part of a risk assessment of applications for partner visas, then ''destroy'' it. But a number of copies have been unoffically released through different sources.