Bills Digest No. 103 1998-99
Migration (Visa Application) Charge Amendment Bill 1998
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does
not have any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted
to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Endnotes
Contact Officer and Copyright Details
Migration (Visa Application) Charge Amendment Bill
1998
Date Introduced: 3
December 1998
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Immigration
and Multicultural Affairs
Commencement: Immediately
after the commencement of the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Act
1997.
To make minor technical amendments
to the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Amendment Act 1998
(the Principal Act).
The Howard Government introduced the Bill for the Principal
Act in 1996. This Bill was aimed at implementing the Government's policy
of cost recovery in respect of immigration procedures and services.
The existing system of visa application fees, the English Education
Charge and the Health Services Charge were rolled into one visa application
fee, with the amount of the fee being set by regulations, as well as
giving the Minister the power to make regulations specifying exemptions
and concessions. The incorporation of the English Education Charge and
the Health Services Charge into a global visa application fee was said
by the Government to make it procedurally easier for the Government
to implement their policy of cost recovery.
This original Bill, as part of a package, attracted
some controversy. The package involved the implementation of the Coalition's
policy of full cost recovery principles in the Adult Migrant English
Program for those immigrants subject to the English Education Charge.
The changes proposed by the current Bill are extremely minor. Nevertheless
it has been sent to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation
Committee for enquiry.(1)
The amendments to the principal legislation are set
out in Schedule 1.
Item 1 changes the pronoun which is used to
refer to the most recently published reference base for the Consumer
Price Index from 'their' to 'the'. That is, the phrase which previously
read 'their most recently published reference base' will now read 'the
most recently published reference base'. The rationale for this amendment
is unclear. The use of the possessive pronoun 'their' to refer to a
plural set of numerical figures seems unexceptionable.
Item 2 replaces the word 'index' with the word
'indexation' in the main section of the Principal Act. This is explained
to be needed to ensure consistency.
Item 3 inserts the word 'except' into a phrase
that was designed to cater for an exception, but, as it is currently
worded, would be likely to operate in such a way as to render the subsection
dysfunctional. The subsection in question specifies that calculations
are to disregard figures published in substitution of previously published
figures and, rather than excepting the case where the figures
are published to take account of changes in the reference base, the
section currently goes on to suggest that they should be disregarded
when the substituted figures are published to take account of changes
in the reference base.
For ease of reference the current provision [ss5(4)(b)]
is reproduced here, with the proposed amendment in italics:
[Calculations under subsection (2)] are to disregard
indexation numbers that are published in substitution for previously
published index numbers (except where the substituted numbers
are published to take account of changes in the reference base).
- According to the House of Representatives Notice Paper the Bill
was referred to the Committee on the 9th of December 1998,
which is due to report on the 8th of March 1999.
Kirsty Magarey
4 February 1999
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ISSN 1328-8091
© Commonwealth of Australia 1999
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