A new bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday has dramatically expanded the powers of immigration Minister Scott Morrison by granting the minister broad new powers to cancel or refuse visas to non-citizens who commit crimes in Australia.

The changes will effectively lower the threshold for the cancellation of temporary visas for non-citizens.A person can now fail the character test if there's a 'reasonable suspicion' - not a conviction - for involvement in crime gangs, people smuggling, genocide, war crimes, torture or slavery.Anyone who has one or multiple jail sentences adding up to 12 months - down from two years - or has an adverse ASIO assessment of child sex charges can also fail automatically.The minister can cancel or refuse a visa to anyone who fails the character test.

Commenting on the new powers, assistant immigration minister Michaelia Cash said the federal government had low tolerance of criminal behaviour by non-citizens.

'Entry and stay in Australia by non-citizens is a privilege, not a right,' she told the chamber on Wednesday, according to a report in The Australian.'The Australian community expects that the Australian government can and should refuse entry to non-citizens or cancel their visas if they do not abide by Australian laws.'

IN SUMMARY, the purpose of the Migration Amendment (Character and General Visa Cancellation) Bill 2014 (the Bill) is to amend the Migration Act 1958[1] (the Act) in relation to the character test and general visa cancellation provisions to:

Schedule 1—Character test

• provide for mandatory cancellation of the visa of a person who is serving a prison sentence, where the Minister is satisfied that the person fails the character test as they have a substantial criminal record or have been found guilty of a sexually based offence involving a child
• broaden the power to refuse or cancel visas by including additional grounds on which a person will not pass the character test
• provide that a person does not pass the character test if there is a ‘risk’ (rather than the current ‘significant risk’) that they would pose a danger to the Australian community
• amend the definition of ‘substantial criminal record’ so that a person sentenced to terms of imprisonment totalling 12 months or more (rather than the current two years) will not pass the character test
• allow the Minister to set aside decisions by a delegate or a Tribunal and cancel a visa if the Minister thinks it is in the national interest and
• enable the Minister to require heads of state or territory agencies to disclose personal information.

Schedule 2—General visa cancellation

 expand the grounds on which a visa may be cancelled under the general visa cancellation power

• expand the Minister’s personal powers to cancel a visa on section 109 or 116 grounds
• provide a mechanism to revoke a cancellation in certain circumstances and
• allow the Minister to substitute their own decision for a decision of a Tribunal or a delegate.