MIGRATION ACTS & BILLS

2003

4 November 2003

More "offshore" territories are gazetted to prevent asylum seekers who arrive there by boat to claim protection in Australia. They include the Coral Sea Islands, some islands that form part of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territories. The amendment was specifically passed to excise Melville Island, near Darwin, Northern Territories, to where several Kurdish Turks had just arrived claiming to be refugees. Note territories excised in following amended regulations.

Migration Amendment Regulations 2003 (No. 8)

23 September 2003

The Courts no longer able to review lawfulness of detention of asylum seekers even where the detainee may be detained indefinitely because it is unlikely that the person may be removed or deported from Australia in the "reasonably foreseeable" future. See these changes in the following amendment act.

Migration Amendment (Duration of Detention) Act 2003

1 March 2003

Bridging Visa E no longer granted to asylum seekers and temporary protection visas holders not in detention and refused protection or further protection visas and those seeking the exercise of the Minister's power to intervene.

2002

3 July 2002

Judicial review further restricted. Appeals based on grounds of natural justice excluded where the issues concern communication between those applying for protection visas and the Minister for Immigration, information provided by visa applicants, cancellation of visas, documents provided to the Refugee Review Tribunal and to the asylum seeker applying for protection. Changes are inserted by the following amendment act.

Migration Legislation Amendment (Procedural Fairness) Act 2002

4 April 2002

Asylum seekers who arrive at "offshore" Australian territories or who are removed to "declared" countries may be brought to Australia to be deported or returned to their own countries or because they need medical treatment or other specified reasons. Some may be entitled to assessment of their claims for protection as Convention refugees if they then remain in Australia for 6 consecutive months. Details may be found in the following amendment Act.

Migration Legislation Amendment (Transitional Movement) Act 2002

2001

27 September 2001

Sweeping changes to migration law restrict access to refugee protection in Australia from 27 September 2001. One set of changes affect new asylum seekers. Asylum seekers who reach certain "offshore" Australia territories by boat are no longer able to apply for protection visas in Australia. Instead, the Government is empowered to remove asylum seekers from Christmas Island, Ashmore Reef, Cocos Island and any other gazetted territories to other "declared" countries such as Nauru and Papua New Guinea to determine their claims for protection. If they are found to be refugees, they may be resettled in a country willing to accept them. If they are accepted by Australia, they will be granted temporary protection visas (tps). If their claims are not made out, they will be repatriated to their own country.

Another set of changes affect refugees who are on tpvs. Tpv holders are no longer eligible for permanent protection visas if they fail the "7-Day Rule" test. This means that they have spent 7 days or more in another country on their way to Australia where they could have obtained protection. Those who were granted Tpvs before 27 September 2001 but apply for permanent protection after that are also subject to the test. However, if the Refugee Review Tribunal refuses to grant an application for permanent protection, the courts may not be able to review its decision from 2 October 2001. Details of these changes may be found in the following Amendment Acts:

Migration Legislation Amendment (Judicial Review) Act 2001
Migration Legislation Amendment Act (No. 6) 2001
Migration Legislation Amendment (No. 5) 2001
Migration Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 2001
Border Protection (Validation and Enforcement Powers) Act 2001
Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) Act 2001
Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) (Consequential Provisions) Act 2001

For recent analysis of the temporary protection visa policy, see the following:

Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch Commentary on Australia's Temporary Protection Visas For Refugees, 22 Nov 2003
Refugee Council of Australia, Position Paper on the use of TPV for Convention Refugees, September 2003
Human Rights Watch, "'By Invitation Only' Australian Asylum Policy", 10 December 2002

For analysis of the amendments at the time, see the following:

Marc Purcell, "Migration of Refugees to Australia", Catholic Commission for Justice, Development and Peace, Melbourne, 9 November 2001
Amnesty International, Opposition to Proposed Legislation Threatening the Rights of Refugees, 20 September 2001
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Human Rights and International Law Implications of Migration Bills, September 2001
Information and Research Services, Refugee Law - Recent Legislative Developments, Current Issues Brief No. 5, 2001-2, Department of Parliamentary Library, Commonwealth of Australia, 2001
Refugee Council of Australia, Opinion of Migration Bills
Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills, Alert Digest No. 13 of 2001, 20 September 2000

17 September 2001

Conditions in immigration detention could become more difficult under the following amendment.

Migration Legislation Amendment (Immigration Detainees) Act (No. 2) 2001

18 July 2001

Asylum seekers in immigration detention could face tougher penalties under changes introduced by the following amendment.

Migration Legislation Amendment (Immigration Detainees) Act 2001

1999

15 December 1999

Temporary protection visas extend for the first time to those recognised as refugees who enter Australia illegally. See especially changes to Migration Regulations 1994 in the following amended regulations which take effect retrospectively on 20 October 1999.

Migration Amendment Regulations 1999 (No. 15)
Statutory Rules 1999 No. 321

16 July 1999

The focus shifts from asylum seekers who arrive illegally to people smuggling in the following amendments on penalties.

Migration Legislation Amendment Act (No. 1) 1999

20 May 1999

Temporary Safe Haven Visas introduced to allow Kosovars to be evacuated from conflict zone to Australia for short period of time. See the amendment act.

Migration Legislation Amendment (Temporary Safe Haven Visas) Act 1999

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