Australian Immigration Daily News

erms of Reference for the Inquiry:
To inquire into and report on:

The Joint Standing Committee on Migration shall inquire into and report on the Working Holiday Maker program, with reference to:
- The purpose of the program including history, size, composition, eligibility, and reciprocal access for Australians and recent changes;
- The value of the program to Australia's economy, including tourism, health care and agriculture sectors;
- The ongoing impact of COVID-19 nationally and internationally on the program;
- The potential economic impacts on regional economies due to the disruptions of access to Working Holiday Makers relied upon especially for the agricultural and tourism sectors; and the capacity, if any, for Australians made unemployed by COVID-19 to fill the labour shortage;
- The extent to which existing visa criteria and conditions related to Working Holiday Makers are still adequate and appropriate to address the purpose of this program, including cultural exchange and creating job opportunities for Australians;
- The extent to which the program can support economic recovery in regional Australia; and
- Any other related matters.

 Source: Working-Holiday-Maker-program.pdfWorking-Holiday-Maker-program.pdf

It has been widely reported by a number of media outlets that Australia is granting citizenships at record numbers which means the backlog of applications is hoping to be cleared by the end of 2020 (an ambitious but not an unrealistic goal).  The help of online ceremonies made the process more seamless and allowed more permanent residents to call Australia home during the pandemic.

Applicants beware!

To become an Australian Citizen, one must pass the character test.  In my previous post, I discuss the mechanics of character provisions under the Migration Act of 1958.  Here we are looking at completely different set of Rules and Regulations.  Starting with the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. The Act states that an applicant must demonstrate they are of good character, namely, that the applicant shows enduring moral qualities of a person at the time of a decision and an indication of whether the applicant is likely to uphold and obey laws of Australia, and the other commitments made through the Pledge, should they be approved for Citizenship.

The Department of Home Affairs may refuse or cancel a visa if the visa applicant/holder does not pass the character test.  The Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Immigration Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs or one of their delegates, can make this decision. 

As per the AAT guidelines, a person whose visa has been refused or cancelled by a delegate under section 501 can apply to the AAT to have this decision changed.  The Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) cannot review decisions made by the Minister personally, only decisions made by delegates.

Section 501 of the Migration Act 1958 lists a variety of reasons why someone may not pass the character test. Subsection(6) of section 501 has the full list of reasons, but examples include:

National Cabinet agreed that all international passenger flight arrivals will be coordinated by the Commonwealth Government. This means, the number of arrivals at each international airport will be subject to caps agreed upon between federal and all state and territory governments. 

As part of this national coordinated approach, all international passenger flights into Victoria have been cancelled until further notice. 

In addition, all international cruise ships are banned from sailing into or out of Australian ports.

Australia continues to maintain strict border measures in place to protect the health of the Australian community. At present very limited flights are currently available to and from Australia.

Travellers arriving in Australia, including Australian citizens, are subject to mandatory quarantine for 14 days at a designated facility, such as a hotel, in their port of arrival. Different States impose different rules regarding payment related to quarantine.

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