Bills Digest 53 1996-97
Migration Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 3) 1996
WARNING:
This Digest is prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced
and does not canvass subsequent amendments.
This Digest was available from 16 November 1996.
CONTENTS
Migration Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 3) 1996
Date Introduced: 16 October 1996
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
Commencement: Schedule 1 will commence on a day to be fixed by
Proclamation, or on the first day after the end of six months on which
it receives Royal Assent. Schedules 2, 3 and 4 commence at Royal Assent.
The Migration Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 3) 1996 (the Principal
Bill) proposes to effect the following changes:
- to 'roll' the Health Services Charge and the English Education Charge
into the one visa application fee. This is to be done by the amendment
of the Migration (Health Services) Charge Act 1991 and the Immigration
(Education) Charge Act 1992 (the Charge Act) so that applications
for visas made after the commencement of the Migration (Visa Application)
Charge Bill 1996 (anticipated to be proclaimed on 1 January 1997) will
be subject to the one fee;
- amend the Immigration (Education) Act 1971, to sever the connection
between this Act and the Immigration (Education) Charge Act 1992.
This is necessitated by the 'rolling' of the English Education Charge
into the visa application fee. In addition, amendments are being made
to clarify that migrants have only one entitlement to 510 hours of English
language tuition;
- amend the Migration (Health Services) Charge Act 1991, so that
applications for visas made after the commencement of the Migration
(Visa Application) Charge Bill 1996 are not subject to the Health Services
Charge. (As indicated above, the charge will be incorporated into the
visa application fee.);
- amend the power to make regulations under the Migration Act 1958
to provide the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs with
greater flexibility to 'cap' various components of the Migration Program,
including those parts of the Preferential Family category that are currently
exempt from 'capping';
- repeal section 87 of the Migration Act 1958 to remove the legislative
exemption to the Minister's power to determine the maximum number of
visas that may be granted within a financial year;
- implement a legislative exemption to the Sex Discrimination Act
1984 to allow the Minister to prescribe a two-year cohabitation
period in respect of applicants who apply offshore for migration on
the basis of a de facto or interdependency relationship with an Australian
citizen or lawful permanent resident.(1) Married couples will not have
to meet this requirement; and
- amend section 21 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 and
the Migration Act 1958 to enable the Minister to deprive a person
of Australian citizenship where that citizenship was obtained as a result
of 'migration-related fraud'.
The visa application charge
The amendments concerning the visa application fee are aimed at implementing
the Government's policy of cost recovery in respect of immigration procedures
and services. In Meeting Our Commitments, the Coalition stated
that it would apply full cost recovery principles in the Adult Migrant
English Program for those immigrants subject to the English Education
Charge.(2) The incorporation of the English Education Charge and the Health
Services Charge into a global visa application fee will make it procedurally
easier for the Government to implement this policy.
Currently, in addition to their visa application fee, applicants for
permanent residence are also required to pay separate fees and charges
in respect of education and health services. These charges are:
- the English Education Charge; since 1 January 1993, 'non-exempt' applicants
for a permanent visa who are 18 years of age or over and do not have
functional English have been required to pay this charge; and
- the Health Services Charge; payable by all applicants for a permanent
visa where that application has been made on or after 21 August 1991.
As mentioned, the Principal Bill, in conjunction with the Migration
(Visa Application) Charge Bill 1996, proposes to implement a single visa
application charge. This is intended to replace the existing system of
visa application fees, the English Education Charge and the Health Services
Charge. The visa application fee will be as prescribed by the Migration
Regulations.
The new arrangements are to apply to the following classes of application:
- visa applications made after the Migration (Visa Application) Charge
Bill 1996 comes into force (ie. when it is Proclaimed). The date of
Proclamation is expected to be on 1 January 1997 (Item 27, Schedule
1 of the Bill refers); and
- visa applications made before the commencement of the Migration (Visa
Application) Charge Bill, where the visa application fee has not been
paid in full - see Item 28 of the Principal Bill. (Note: the
Migration Act 1958 states that a visa application is not valid
unless any relevant application fee has been paid in full).
These applicants will not be bound to pay either the English Education
Charge or the Health Services Charge.
Valid visa applications made before 1 January 1997 will still be subject
to the English Education Charge and the Health Services Charge (as prescribed
by the Immigration (Education) Charge Regulations 1993, and the Immigration
(Health Services) Charge Regulations 1992).
Payment of the visa application fee
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Bill envisages that the visa
application fee will be payable in instalments. An applicant will be required
to pay the component of the fee representing the English Education Charge
if he or she does not have 'functional English' (as determined by regulations
made pursuant to subsection 5(2) of the Migration Act 1958).
Exemptions and concessions
Exemptions and concessions in relation to elements of the visa application
fee will be left to be determined by the Migration Regulations. As relevant
amendments to these regulations have not yet been Gazetted, it is not
possible, at this stage, to discern whether there will be any change to
the current exemptions and concessions. In this regard, it should be noted
that the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs has previously
announced publicly that migrants coming through the Humanitarian Program
and the Preferential Family category of the Migration Program will continue
to be exempt from the requirement to pay the English Education Charge.(3)
The legislative scheme
Item 19 of Schedule 1 inserts section 45A into
the Migration Act 1958. This section provides that a non-citizen
who makes an (otherwise valid) application for a visa is liable to pay
a 'visa application charge' (the Charge). The amount of the Charge in
respect of a class of visa is to be prescribed by the Migration Regulations.
However, it must not exceed the 'visa application charge limit' (proposed
section 45B).
The visa application charge limit is to be determined in accordance
with proposed section 5 of the Migration (Visa Application)
Charge Bill 1996. The mechanism for the calculation and imposition of
the visa application charge limit has been introduced into a separate
Bill to avoid possible problems arising out of the operation of section
55 of the Constitution.
- with respect to visa applications made in the financial year beginning
1 July 1996, the visa application charge limit is set at $12,500.
Proposed subsection 5(2) of the Charge Bill sets out a formula
for the calculation of the visa application sets out a formula for the
calculation of the visa application charge limit in subsequent years;
generally, it will be indexed in accordance with movements in the Consumer
Price Index.
Item 19 also inserts subsections 45C(1) and 45C(2),
which state that regulations made under the Migration Act 1958
in relation to the Charge may provide for:
- the payment of the Charge in instalments;
- how and when the Charge is to be paid; and
- the categories of visa applicants who are to be exempt from paying
some or all of the Charge.
In addition, the regulations may provide for the crediting of part or
all of the charge paid in respect of one visa application against the
charge payable in respect of another application.
Item 20 inserts subsection 46(1)(ba) after subsection
46(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958. Section 46
specifies certain criteria that an application for a visa must meet before
it is considered to be a valid visa application, and thus gives rise to
an obligation on the part of the Minister to consider it.(4) Subsection
46(1)(ba) imposes an additional criterion; that, subject to the regulations
providing otherwise, any visa application charge that the regulations
require to be paid at the time the application has been paid.
- this amendment will allow regulations to be made which provide that
a component of the visa application fee is to be paid at the time the
application is made.
Item 26 amends subsection 5(1) of the Migration
(Health Services) Charge Act 1991 to ensure that it no longer applies
once the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Bill 1996 comes into force.
This is to ensure that an applicant for a visa does not end up being liable
for payment of both the health services charge 'component' of the visa
application charge and the Health Services Charge.
Amendments to the Immigration (Education) Act 1971
The Immigration (Education) Act 1971 imposes an obligation upon
the Commonwealth and the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
to provide 510 hours of English language tuition to newly arrived migrants
who are assessed as not having 'functional English'. The Immigration
(Education) Charge Act 1992 imposes a charge for English language
tuition on migrants who applied to migrate to Australia after 1 January
1993.
English Language Programs
At the federal level, English language tuition is provided by both the
Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) and the Department
of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA). DIMA is
responsible for providing English language tuition to newly arrived migrants
under the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP). DEETYA is responsible
for providing English language programs to job-seekers. The amendments
in the Principal Bill operate in respect of AMEP.
To be eligible to receive English language tuition under AMEP, an applicant
must either: be a migrant who arrived in Australia after 1991, or a temporary
resident with a Gazetted temporary visa, or a migrant who has been granted
permanent residence in Australia since 1 July 1991. In addition, an applicant
must usually be 18 years of age or over, and must not already have used
up their 510 hour entitlement to tuition.
The obligation of the Commonwealth and the Minister to provide the 510
hours of tuition ceases when:
- a person is determined to have attained 'functional English'; or
- the person fails to register for an AMEP program within three months
of the commencement date of the visa (or when the person first arrived
in Australia); or
- the person fails to commence an AMEP course within 12 months after
the commencement date of the visa; or
- the 510 hour entitlement has not been used up by the end of 36 months
after the commencement date of the visa.
The most significant amendments appear to be those proposed by Items
7 and 12 of Schedule 1 to the Principal Bill. Item 7 amends paragraph
4B(c) to ensure that the Minister's obligation to provide 510 hours of
English tuition is limited only to those people who did not have functional
English at the time of making the visa application.
Item 12 inserts paragraphs 4C(d) and 4C(e), which
provide that the Commonwealth's obligation to provide English language
tuition is limited to applicants who did not have functional English at
the time of the making of the visa application. New paragraph 4C(e) provides
for the making of regulations excluding persons from being provided with
English tuition.
Item 13 of the Principal Bill inserts paragraph 4C(f),
to clarify that the Commonwealth does not have an obligation to provide
English language tuition where the person has previously been entitled
to 510 hours of such tuition.
Schedule 2 - Capping of elements of the Migration Program
Power to impose limits on the maximum number of visas that may be
granted in a particular financial year
Section 85 of the Migration Act 1958 currently provides for the
Minister to determine the maximum number of visas for a specified class
or classes which are to be granted in a specified financial year. Section
86 provides that, once the maximum number of visas in a specified class
or classes has been granted, no more visas of that class or class may
be granted in that financial year.
Section 87 provides for a legislative exemption to section 86; it states
that section 86 does not prevent a visa being granted to a person who
applies for it on the ground that he or she is the spouse, dependent child,
or aged parent of an Australian citizen or lawful permanent resident of
Australia.
In addition, section 84 gives the Minister the power to suspend the
processing of visa applications in a specified class or classes, except
in relation to persons whose application was made on the ground that he
or she is a spouse, a dependent child, or aged parent of a citizen or
lawful permanent resident of Australia (subsection 84(3)).
- the Bill proposes the repeal of section 87 and subsection 84(3). The
implications of this will be discussed in detail later in the Digest.
The 'cap and kill' power
Subsection 39(1) of the Migration Act 1958 permits a prescribed
criterion for visas of a specified class or classes (other than protection
visas) to be that the grant of the visa would not cause the number of
visas to be granted in a particular financial year to exceed the number
determined by the Minister and published in the Gazette. Subsection
39(2) currently provides that any applications beyond the maximum number
made during that financial year are taken not to have been made.
Disallowance
At present, determinations made by the Minister under section 85 and
subsection 39(1) are not subject to disallowance. The Bill does
not propose to change this situation. However, the DIMA has advised that
these determinations constitute 'legislative instruments' in accordance
with the Legislative Instruments Bill 1996. Thus, should the Legislative
Instruments Bill be passed, these determinations will become disallowable
instruments.
Item 4 of Schedule 2 proposes to repeal subsection 39(1), and
substitute subsections 39(1), (1A) and (1B). The Bill also makes consequential
amendments to subsection 39(2).
New subsection 39(1) provides that the Minister may, by notice in the
Gazette, impose either or both:
- a numerical limit on the number of visas of a specified class or classes
that may be granted in a specified financial year;
- a date after which no more visas of a specified class or classes may
be granted.
Protection visas will continue to be exempt from determinations made
under section 39(1).
Proposed subsections 39(1A) and (1B) respectively provide that, subject
to the determinations being revoked under section 39(3), that no more
visas of a specified class or classes may be granted in a financial year,
if:
- the maximum number of visas in the specified class or classes for
that financial year has been granted; and/or
- the date after which no more visas of the specified class or classes
may be granted has passed.
Proposed subsection 39(3) provides that the Minister may, by notice
in the Gazette, revoke a determination made under subsection 39(1),
even if the maximum number of visas of a specified class has been granted,
or the date after which visas will not be processed has passed. Subsection
39(4) provides that a determination that has been revoked may be replaced
by a new determination.
Despite the power to revoke a determination, subsection 39(2) will still
operate to deem applications beyond the maximum number, or that reach
the 'head' of the queue after the date on which no more applications will
be granted, as never having been made. It would appear that where an applicant
has paid the required visa application fee and the application, by virtue
of subsection 39(2), is deemed never to have been made, that this would
give rise to a right on the part of the applicant to seek a refund of
any visa application fee paid. This is particularly so, given that there
appears to be nothing in the Migration Act 1958 or Migration Regulations
which purports to stop an applicant from seeking a refund of his or her
visa application fee.
Item 6 repeals existing subsection 84(3), to remove the
legislative exemption to the Minister's power to suspend the processing
of visa applications in relation to spouse, dependent child, or aged parent
visa subclasses.
Item 8 proposes the amendment of section 85 along similar
terms to proposed subsection 39(1), ie the Minister may place limits on
the grant of visas of a specified class or classes in the terms proposed
in subsection 39(1), above.
Schedule 3 - Amendments related to marital status
These amendments are to allow the Government to make regulations under
the Migration Act 1958 providing that a prospective migrant who
applies for a permanent visa on the basis of his or her de facto relationship
with an Australian citizen or lawful permanent resident must satisfy a
two-year cohabitation requirement before he or she is granted a permanent
visa. The imposition of a two-year cohabitation requirement is in fulfilment
of a Government electoral commitment.(5)
Legislative exemption to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984
Item 1 of Schedule 3 inserts section 507 to the Migration
Act 1958. This section creates a legislative exemption from the Sex
Discrimination Act 1984 (SDA), to the extent which it applies to the
status or condition of being married or being the de facto spouse of another
person, in relation to regulations, or the making thereof, which specify
the nature and incidents of the relationship between a person and another
person, or the period for which a relationship of a specified kind must
have existed, before the person is taken to be the de facto spouse of
the other person. Proposed paragraph 507(b) extends the legislative exemption
so that it applies in connection to the administration of those regulations.
The legislative exemption has been sought to enable the Government to
fulfil its policy objective in the area of applications by spouses. An
applicant who is a de facto spouse of an Australian citizen or permanent
resident will be required to cohabit with their partner for a period of
two years before a permanent visa will be granted. On the other hand,
an applicant who is married to an Australian citizen or permanent resident
will not be required to satisfy a cohabitation requirement. The Government's
rationale for this is that, '...it is unnecessary to impose a two year
requirement on married couples because of the different legal consequences
of marriage.'(6) In the absence of a legislative exemption from the SDA,
this differential treatment would be unlawful, as it would constitute
discrimination on the grounds of marital status.(7)
The Minister has foreshadowed exceptions to the two-year cohabitation
requirement in relation to de facto couples in certain circumstances;
eg. where there are children born of the relationship.(8)
Schedule 4 - Deprivation of Citizenship on the basis of 'migration-related
fraud'
Power of the Minister to deprive a person of his or her citizenship
At present, section 21 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 gives
the Minister the discretion to deprive persons of their citizenship, on
one of the following grounds:
- where the person has been convicted under section 50 of the Act, which
currently makes it an offence for a person to, for a purpose of, or
related to an application for citizenship, make, or cause or permit
to be made, a representation or statement that is false or misleading
in a material particular, or to conceal a material circumstance; or
- where, at any time after lodging the application for citizenship,
the person has been convicted of an offence in a foreign country, or
under a law of the Commonwealth, State or Territory, and has been sentenced
to death, or to imprisonment for a period of twelve months or more.
This provision relates to offences committed at any time before the
grant of citizenship, including any time before the making of the citizenship
application; or
- where the Minister is satisfied that it would be contrary to the public
interest to allow the person to continue to be an Australian citizen;
and
the Minister is satisfied that it would be contrary to the public interest
for the person to continue to remain an Australian citizen.
Subsection 52(2A) of the Act provides for applications to be made to
the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of the Minister's decision
to deprive someone of their citizenship on the basis of the grounds listed
in section 21.
The current provisions have been the subject of criticism, as they do
not allow the Minister to deprive a person of his or her citizenship in
the situation where the application for citizenship was legitimately made,
but the person had attained permanent residency (as opposed to citizenship)
as a result of misrepresentation or fraud.(9)
Item 2 inserts a new ground into the Australian Citizenship
Act 1948 (migration-related fraud) on the basis of which [subparagraph
21(1)(a)(iii)] which the Minister may deprive a person who has previously
been granted Australian citizenship, of that citizenship. A person may
seek a review of the Minister's decision under subparagraph 21(1)(a)(iii)
in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (section 52A).
Item 3 inserts subsection 21(1A), which sets out when
a person will have been taken to have obtained a certificate of Australian
citizenship as a result of migration-related fraud. Where, at any time
(including after the grant of the certificate of citizenship) a person
has been prosecuted and convicted of an offence against any of the following
provisions of the Migration Act 1958:
- section 234 - which makes it an offence, in connection with entry
into Australia or with an application for a visa, for a person to present
or cause to be presented, forged documents, make or cause to be made,
false or misleading statements, or present, or cause to be presented,
false or misleading documents;
- section 236, which makes it an offence to use or possess another person's
visa; and
- sections 243 and 244, which respectively make it offences to apply
for a visa on the basis of a de facto or interdependency relationship
where the applicant does not intend to have a genuine and continuing
relationship with the other person.
In addition, conviction for certain offences under the Crimes Act
1914 (Commonwealth) also constitute grounds for 'migration-related
fraud'. These are: section 29A, which makes it an offence to, among other
things, obtain a 'benefit' from the Commonwealth through false pretences,
section 29B, which makes it an offence to make a false representation
to the Commonwealth with a view to obtaining, among other things, a 'benefit',
and section 29D, which makes it an offence to defraud the Commonwealth.
The Explanatory Memorandum to the Principal Bill suggests that
an Australian visa is such a 'benefit'.(10)
As well, the act or omission that constituted the offence must be connected
with the person's entry into Australia or the grant to the person of a
visa or of a permission to enter and remain in Australia. Where the Minister
is satisfied that the act or omission that constituted the offence was
not in any way (whether directly or indirectly) material to the person
becoming a permanent resident [proposed subsection 21(1B)], then
the person will not be liable for deprivation of citizenship on the basis
of migration-related fraud.
Hence, for example, a person who commits social security fraud after
having legitimately entered Australia and was convicted of an offence
under sections 29A, B or D, would not be liable for deprivation of citizenship
on the ground of 'migration-related fraud', as the offence was not in
any way material to the person becoming a permanent resident.
- however, if the person has been convicted of one of these offences
(which was committed at any time before the grant of the certificate
- including before the grant of the application) and had been sentenced
to a period of imprisonment for 12 months or more, he or she would still
be liable for deportation under section 21(1)(ii) of the Australian
Citizenship Act 1948.
Item 5 amends section 50, which currently makes it an
offence for a person to, for a purpose of, or related to, the Australian
Citizenship Act 1948, to make, or cause or permit to be made, a representation
or statement that is false in a material particular. Currently, subsection
50(2) imposes a 10-year time limit (from the commission of the offence)
for the commencement of prosecutions. Item 5 inserts subsection 50(3),
to remove the time limit in respect of persons who apply for and are granted,
Australian citizenship after the commencement of that subsection (at Royal
Assent). Hence, the provision will operate prospectively.
Item 7 adds subsection 492(2) to the Migration Act
1958. The effect of this amendment is to, after the commencement of
the subsection, to remove the time limit for prosecution of a person for
an offence against section 234, 236, 243 or 244 of the Act. Currently,
section 492 imposes a five-year time limit for the commencement of prosecutions
for offences against the Migration Act 1958 or the Migration Regulations.
This amendment will apply prospectively.
Amendments to the citizenship provisions
The addition of the new ground for the deprivation of citizenship and
the removal of the time limitation on prosecution for offences under section
50A of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 may, if they are enforced,
lead to persons becoming stateless. This particularly applies to Australian
citizens who were previously nationals of States that are no longer in
existence. Historically, Governments have been reluctant to use the deprivation
provisions where it would result in a person being left stateless, as
this would entail a breach of Australia's international obligations.
It is a principle of international law that a State may deprive a person
of his or her nationality, provided that it is not done arbitrarily (ie.
that the deprivation must be carried out in accordance with the law, and
not done, for instance, on the basis of grounds such as membership of
a particular ethnic, cultural, religious or social group). However, the
right of a State to deprive a person of his or her nationality is subject
to the qualification that the person is not to be left stateless as a
result.
The right of States to determine which persons may be its nationals
is set out in Article 1 of the Convention on Certain Questions Relating
to the Conflict of Nationality Laws (1930). Article 1 states:
It is for each State to determine under its own law who are
its nationals. This law shall be recognised by other States in so far
as it is consistent with international conventions, international custom,
and the principles of law generally recognised with regard to nationality.
[Emphasis added]
In addition, Article 8(2)(b) of the Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness (1961) (the Convention) provides that a State party
to the Convention may deprive a person of his or her nationality where
the nationality was obtained by misrepresentation or fraud. However, Article
1 of the Convention provides that a State shall not deprive a person of
his or her nationality if that deprivation would render the person stateless.
In addition, Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948), which is arguably also now part of customary international
law,(11) states that every person has the right to acquire a nationality,
and a State shall not arbitrarily deny a person of his or her nationality,
nor deny the person the right to change his or her nationality.
It is arguable that the Universal Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness (1961) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(1948) operate so that a State may not deprive a person of his or
her citizenship if that deprivation would render the person stateless.
This view of the law was supported by the (then) Department of Immigration
and Ethnic Affairs in its submission to the Joint Standing Committee on
Migration inquiry Australians All: Enhancing Australian Citizenship.(12)
Deprivation of citizenship - implications for children
Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989),
provides that every child shall have a name and the right to acquire a
nationality.
Section 23 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 provides that
where a responsible parent is deprived of Australian citizenship under
section 21, the Minister may, unless the other parent is an Australian
citizen, direct that the children of that person shall cease to be Australian
citizens. However, the provision does not oblige the Minister to consider
specifically, in the exercise of his or her discretion, whether the revocation
of the children's' citizenship would render them stateless(13). The Principal
Bill does nothing to change this situation.
'Nationality' and the implications of statelessness
The concept of 'nationality' is an important one in international law.
Persons with nationality have the right to seek the protection of the
State of which they are nationals, in certain circumstances. The concept
of nationality also has important implications for States and State responsibility.
For example, a State may take action against another State for injuries,
etc sustained by the nationals of the first State. A person who does not
have a nationality does not have these rights and protections.
- On 7 November 1996, various aspects of the Migration Regulations
(Amendment), as contained in Statutory Rules 1996 No. 211 and Gazetted
on 30 September 1996, were disallowed by the Senate. The regulations
disallowed included regulations requiring sponsors in the Preferential
Family category (including the spouse category) to be Australian citizens.
- Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Fact Sheet, 'Increased
cost recovery for immigration services', 20 August 1996.
- The Hon Phillip Ruddock MP, 'Election commitments key to immigration
success, says Minister,' Press Release, 20 August 1996.
- The Minister's obligation to consider a valid visa application is
subject to certain statutory exemptions; these are listed in subsection
47(2) of the Migration Act 1958.
- The Hon Phillip Ruddock MP, 'Amendments to deliver Australia's migration
program', Press Release, 17 October 1996.
- The Hon Phillip Ruddock MP, Second Reading Speech, Migration
Legislation Amendment Bill (No.3) 1996, 17 October 1996.
- The Government also intends to introduce regulations requiring applicants
in the interdependency relationship visa classes to live together (in
a mutually dependent relationship) for two years before a permanent
visa is granted. Generally, interdependency relationships are gay and
lesbian relationships; as the Marriage Act 1961 does not recognise
homosexual marriages, there is no possibility that the cohabitation
requirement can be avoided. And, although the imposition of the two-year
requirement would arguably constitute discrimination on the basis of
sexual preference, there is no Commonwealth legislation that renders
this sort of discrimination unlawful.
- Second Reading Speech, Migration Legislation Amendment Bill
(No.3) 1996.
- Joint Standing Committee on Migration, Australians All: Enhancing
Australian Citizenship, September 1994, p.136.
- Migration Legislation Amendment Bill (No.3) 1996, Explanatory
Memorandum, p.16.
- Chan, Johannes M.M., 'The Right to Nationality as a Human Right',
Human Rights Law Journal, Vol 12, No.1-2, p.3.
- Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, Submission to the
Joint Standing Committee on Migration, Inquiry into Enhancing the Meaning
of Australian Citizenship, p.57.
- Such an amendment was recommended in the inquiry of the Joint Standing
Committee on Migration, ibid, Recommendation 37.
Elen Perdikogiannis (06) 277 2699
12 November 1996
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Research Service
This Digest does not have any official legal status. Other sources should
be consulted to determine whether the Bill has been enacted and, if so,
whether the subsequent Act reflects further amendments.
PRS staff are available to discuss the paper's contents with Senators
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ISSN 1323-9031
© Commonwealth of Australia 1996
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