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Chapter 3 - Annual reports on the operation of Acts & Programs

3.1        Standing Order 25(20) does not provide for consideration of reports on the implementation or operation of Acts or programs. The committee is not therefore required to include them in its report on the examination of annual reports. However, the committee chose on this occasion to examine in some detail the following reports:

• Report to the Attorney-General on the results of inspections of records under  s 55 of the Surveillance Devices Act 2004 (published by the Commonwealth Ombudsman);
• Protection visa processing taking more than 90 days for the reporting period   1 March 2007 to 30 June 2007 (published by DIAC); and
• Report pursuant to Section 440a of the Migration Act on the conduct of Refugee Review Tribunal Reviews not completed within 90 days for the period 1 March 2007 to 30 June 2007 (published by the Refugee Review Tribunal).

Report under the Surveillance Devices Act 2004

3.2        The Surveillance Devices Act 2004 (the Act) regulates the use of surveillance devices by law enforcement agencies.[1] Subsection 55(1) of the Act requires the Ombudsman to inspect the records of each law enforcement agency to determine the extent of compliance with the Act by the agency and its law enforcement officers.[2]

Privacy Issues

3.3        The Ombudsman highlighted several issues in relation to compliance with s 16(2)(c) of the Act.[3] Section 16(2)(c) states that in determining whether to issue a surveillance device warrant, the issuing officer must have regard to the extent to which the privacy of any person is likely to be affected.[4] In relation to AFP compliance with this section of the Act the Ombudsman found that:

A number of files inspected did not comment on the effect on privacy in the application or supporting affidavit. While some affidavits noted the issue of privacy, most did not adequately address the requirement of s16(2)(c), which would appear to require an assessment as to the degree privacy will be affected, taking into account the particular circumstances. This issue has been raised in previous reports to the agency.[5]

3.4        The committee has previously noted the Ombudsman's concerns relating to AFP compliance with paragraph 16(2)(c) of the Act[6] and is disappointed to see that the Ombudsman has had to raise these issues again. The committee encourages the AFP to examine why these problems have occurred and take appropriate corrective action.

Protection visa processing and reviews taking more than 90 days

3.5        Under section 91Y of the Migration Act the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (the Department) is required to report on protection visa applications which take more than 90 days to process. Similarly, section 440A requires the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) to report on reviews not completed within 90 days. The Department and the RRT are required to report every four months with the latest reporting period being 1 March 2007 to 30 June 2007. In this report, the committee has considered the outcomes reported in the three previous reporting periods.

Protection Visa processing taking more than 90 days

3.6        The table below compares protection visa processing by DIAC taking more than 90 days for the three previous reporting periods:

3.7        The committee notes that there has been an increase in the number of protection visas processed outside of 90 days. However, the committee also notes that this is largely due to factors outside DIAC's control.[7]

Refugee Review Tribunal reviews not completed within 90 days

3.8        This table outlines RRT reviews not completed within 90 days, compared with reviews completed within 90 days, for the previous three reporting periods:

3.9        The committee is pleased to note that the number of reviews not completed within 90 days continues to decline.

Senator Trish Crossin
Committee Chair

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