Australian Immigration Daily News

Does the Department have the authority to confiscate mobile phones from people who are being held in immigration detention?

This question is prompted by a change in the government’s policies that were announced in late May 2016, and which began to be implemented in February of this year. 

Prior to this policy change, a “two-tiered” approach to the possession and use of mobile phones by persons in detention had been in place since 2010.  Under that two-tiered approach,  persons  who were being held in detention because they were “illegal maritime arrivals” were not allowed to have or use mobile phones, but otherwise, persons who were in detention because their visa had been cancelled on character grounds were allowed to have and use mobiles.

Bupa is proud to announce the launch of its official WeChat account!

This social media platform is extremely popular amongst the Mandarin speaking community here in Australia so as part of their on-going multicultural communication strategies they have decided to join the WeChat community and become the first health insurance company in Australia to open an official account.

This account will enable access to information on Bupa’s product range and health services, the ability to communicate with Bupa consultants, and receive weekly articles on topics ranging from promotions and campaign information to health and care articles all in Mandarin.

Operation "Sovereign Borders" has been a primary focus of the government to deal with 'people smuggling'.

On April 23, days after announcing changes to Subclass 457 Visa and Citizenship, Minister for Immigration Peter Dutton released the following statistics for comparison.

Under Labor, Australia saw:

There are many demands on a business owner’s budget, so when the money is tight it can be tempting to skip some expenses to save a little cash.   Often you’ll tend to skip the outlays that don’t deliver an immediate return, like your insurance, and instead spend on things that can bring clients in the door and generate revenue, such as marketing and advertising.  However, being in business is risky business and all Migration Agents face risks that could threaten the livelihood of their business.  Which is why having the right insurance is an important part of being a responsible business owner.

This doesn’t mean that you need to get every type of insurance possible for your agency.  Instead it is about having the right insurance to help you to take away some of your business worries. Firstly, you should identify your risks and prioritise them, by considering the probability of something happening, along with the financial impact it would have on your business. Because some risks could cause a major disruption, while others might only be minor.

 If the probability of an event happening is low and the financial impact is low, you may decide it’s not worth insuring against.  For example, if the chance of a wild storm hitting your town and causing damage to your premises is low and you could easily manage the cost of repairs, you might decide against insurance in this area. In other words, if the chance is low and you can afford to replace your assets, you may be willing to "self-insure". 

The legal framework of the Migration Act surrounding the cancellation of the visas of persons who are owed protection obligations by Australia and who therefore cannot be returned to their countries of origin consistently with Australia’s international treaty obligations under the Refugees Convention  is a complicated, convoluted, messed up mess!

That this is so was illustrated by a case that was handed down yesterday, 3 May 2017, by Acting Chief Justice North of the Federal Court of Australia in the case of DMH16 v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (2017) FCA 448.

This was the background of the case: