Immigration

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted the federal government to introduce stringent restrictions on travel into and out of the country. These restrictions are the strictest ever put in place by Australia. Many other countries around the world have also halted international travel despite the World Health Organisation’s advice that such measures are ineffective in slowing…

The Child Visa (Subclass 101) allows a dependent child to enter Australia to live with their parent or parents. It covers biological children as well as adopted children and stepchildren. The dependent child must be sponsored by a parent or the parent’s spouse and must be outside of Australia when the application is made. A…

On 11 February 2020, the High Court delivered its much-anticipated judgement in the matter of Love & Thoms v Commonwealth. The court ruled in a majority judgment that the Commonwealth does not have the power to deal with Aboriginal non-citizens as ‘aliens’ under Section 51(xix) of the Constitution. In effect, the decision means that immigration…

In recent months, the Department of Home Affairs (DOHA) has been increasing the range and scope of migration options for prospective skilled visa applicants who are willing to live and work in regional Australia. On 26 October 2019, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that the government would be stepping up its commitment to regional Australia…

It is a principle of administrative law that government decision-makers should be required to fulfill the legitimate expectations that they have created. Where a decision-maker has failed to satisfy a legitimate expectation in the process of arriving at the decison, the decision may be challenged. The doctrine of legitimate expectation came to prominence in 1994.…

The Migration Act 1958 empowers the Immigration Minister to intervene in a case in certain circumstances. The minister can substitute a decision that has been made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT), with a more favourable decision. Ministerial intervention is discretionary. The minister is not obliged to intervene in any case. What powers does the minister have?…

Hundreds of people yesterday protested outside the Sydney office of Home Affairs against the continuing use of Temporary Protection Visas for people found to be genuine refugees. Temporary Protection Visas, which have been used since the 1990s, have long been criticised for the uncertainty they bring to refugees who have been through trauma and want…

Procedural fairness means fairness in the procedures followed when arriving at an administrative decision. It is a principle that is fundamental to the administration of justice and a person can file an appeal and get a decision overturned on the basis that procedural fairness was not observed. When procedural fairness has been denied, the decision…

The balance of family test is integral to determining who is eligible for a parent visa. A person applying for a parent visa on a temporary or a permanent basis must pass the balance of family test, which is contained in Section 105 of the Migration Regulations and tests an applicant’s family links with Australia.…

Two men of Aboriginal descent are facing deportation from Australia, under immigration laws introduced in 2014 that allow for the deportation of non-citizens who fail the character test. Both men were born overseas, have lived in Australia since they were children but were never granted Australian citizenship. Both are challenging their deportation and the lawfulness…

Prior to 1986, all babies born in Australia automatically became Australian citizens. However, this has changed due to the increasing number of short-term visa holders living in the community. Today, when a child is born in Australia to parents who are non-citizens, the immigration status of the child depends on the type of visa or…

Most applicants for Australian visas are required to fulfill the migration Health Requirement. The criteria for health assessments are determined by the length of stay, purpose of visit and the type of visa being applied for. The Department of Immigration and Citizenships states that the Health Requirement is necessary to: Protect the Australian community from…

The Uluru Statement From the Heart is an Indigenous consensus position that resulted from an Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander Referendum Convention held in 2017. The Convention sought to come to an agreement about an approach to constitutional recognition and to arrive at a basis for dual and complementary sovereignty between Indigenous and settler people.…

In the last five years, around 1500 New Zealand citizens have been deported from Australia after committing criminal offences in Australia. The number of deportations of NZ citizens increased sharply after the Migration Act was amended in 2014, giving the minister broader powers to cancel visas and amending the character test.  Many of those deported…

On 3 December 2018 Dr Kerryn Phelps MP introduced the Migration Amendment ( Urgent Medical Treatment ) Bill to parliament. The legislation, if passed, will require the temporary transfer of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru to Australia if they are assessed by two or more doctors as needing medical treatment. The legislation will…

On 26 January, Australia will celebrate Australia Day. The date on which Australia Day is celebrated has been the subject of increasing controversy, with many people feeling that the chosen date is offensive to Aboriginal people and divides, rather than unifies, the community. 26 January has been a national public holiday since 1994. What happened…