Australian Immigration Daily News

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Bills marked * are proposed for introduction and passage before the end of 2019

Australian Citizenship Amendment (Strengthening the Citizenship Loss Provisions) Bill * - amend the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, in relation to persons convicted of certain offences, to:

o adjust the threshold for determining dual citizenship from the current requirement that the person is a national or citizen of a country other than Australia at the time when the Minister makes the determination that a person ceases to be an Australian citizen to a requirement that the Minister is satisfied the person will not become a person who is not a national or citizen of any country; and

o strengthen the Minister’s ability to determine that a person ceases to be an Australian citizen if they are convicted of a terrorism offence, regardless of the sentence imposed Reason for legislation: to strengthen the citizenship loss provisions in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 to keep ahead of evolving terrorist threats, protect the Australian community, and protect the integrity of Australia’s citizenship framework

Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Bill * - establish a Temporary Exclusion Order scheme to:

o provide a single, explicit source of legislative power for the Government to control the return of an Australian citizen of counter-terrorism interest to Australia; and

o provide a streamlined mechanism to impose conditions to facilitate the monitoring of the person once they have returned to Australia Reason for legislation:

to ensure law enforcement agencies are equipped to manage Australian citizens returning to Australia who are of counter-terrorism interest Link to announcement: Media release of 21 February 2019

Identity-Matching Services Bill * - authorise the Department of Home Affairs to collect, use and disclose identification information to provide identity matching services that employ facial biometric matching, when used for the purposes of fraud prevention, law enforcement, national security and related purposes Reason for legislation: to implement the Australian Government’s legislative obligations under the 2017 Inter-governmental Agreement on Identity Matching Services

Migration Amendment (Regional Processing Cohort) Bill * - prevent any unauthorised maritime arrival taken to a regional processing country after 19 July 2013 from ever being eligible to apply for an Australian visa Reason for legislation: to ensure that any person who arrived as an unauthorised maritime arrival will not be able to settle in Australia

Migration Amendment (Repairing Medical Transfers) Bill * - repeal the amendments made to the Migration Act 1958 by Schedule 6 to the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2019 - extend existing return and removal mechanisms to transitory persons brought to Australia from a regional processing country under section 198C of the Migration Act 1958 Reason for legislation: to ensure that the Australian Government is able to determine who enters Australia, and to maintain the policy objectives under Operation Sovereign Borders Link to announcement: Protect Our Borders to Keep Australians Safe

Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill * - create an additional discretionary, objective ground for visa refusal or cancellation under the character framework in section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 where a person has been convicted of a serious violent crime, regardless of the length of sentence that has been imposed Reason for legislation: to strengthen the character test in the Migration Act to ensure that any person who is of character concern can be appropriately considered for visa refusal or cancellation

Migration Amendment (Clarification of Jurisdiction) Bill - amend the Migration Act 1958 and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975 to clarify the allocation of jurisdiction between the Federal Court and the Federal Circuit Court in relation to migration decisions Reason for legislation: to clarify the allocation of jurisdiction between the Federal Court and Federal Circuit Court (in keeping with the original legislative intention) in respect of migration decisions

Migration Amendment (Complementary Protection and Other Measures) Bill - amend the Migration Act 1958 to align, where possible, the complementary protection framework with the refugee framework in the Act and deliver a more efficient and effective onshore protection regime Reason for legislation: to enhance the efficiency and integrity of Australia’s onshore protection programme Link to announcement: Media release of 25 March 2015

Migration Amendment (Offshore Resources Activity) Repeal Bill - repeal the amendments made by the Migration Amendment (Offshore Resources Activity) Act 2013 Reason for legislation: to update and improve the operation of existing legislation

Migration Amendment (Regulation of Migration Agents) Bill, and Migration Agents Registration Application Charge Amendment (Rates of Charge) Bill - remove lawyers from the regulatory scheme governing migration agents, and make other amendments to improve the effectiveness of the scheme that regulates migration agents - ensure that a person who paid the non-commercial registration application charge in relation to their current period of registration, but gives immigration assistance otherwise than on a non-commercial basis, is liable to pay an adjusted fee

Reason for legislation:

to give effect to recommendations from the 2014 Independent Review of the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority

Migration Amendment (Streamlining Visa Processing) Bill - enable the Minister to specify groups of visa applicants who must provide one or more specified personal identifiers in order to make a valid visa application. If a person refuses to provide their personal identifiers, they cannot make a valid visa application and cannot be considered for grant of the visa Reason for legislation: streamlines the visa application process by requiring the provision of a biometric at the time of application lodgement, rather than after a written request

Source: HA-Legislation-proposed-for-introduction-in-the-Winter-Spring-Sittings-2019.pdf