Immigration

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…

There are several offences under the Migration Act which relate to people smuggling. These offences consist of bringing people who are not Australian citizens and do not have visas to travel to Australia, into the country. People smuggling offences often involve dangerous sea journeys to Australia. The people smuggling offences under the Migration Act apply…

The Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton has come under fire after it has come to light that 27-year-old Neil Prakash, who was stripped of his Australian citizenship last month, does not, in fact, have Fijian citizenship. Contrary to the Minister’s assertion that Prakash is a dual national, the Fijian government has today denied that…

The Australian government has announced it will not be signing a United Nations migration pact, which was developed during 2018. The pact invites signatory states to work towards a more humane and cooperative approach to world migration and to adopt domestic practices that address migration issues in a safe, orderly and regular way through international…

The United Nations working group on arbitrary detention has condemned Australia’s detention of three asylum seekers. The group, which reports to the UN Human Rights Council, on which Australia has a seat, has expressed concern about asylum seekers and immigrants being detained around the world, and highlighted 94 cases of arbitrary detention around the world,…

If you are living in Australia as a non-citizen on a temporary or permanent visa and you are found guilty of a crime, this may affect your visa. Depending on the sentence you receive and how long you have been living in Australia, together with a range of other factors, your visa may be cancelled,…