Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Migration Legislation Amendment (Information and Other Measures) Bill 2007 will amend the Migration Act 1958 to address the limitations in the provisions dealing with access to and disclosure of identifying information.

The member for Moreton’s final sentiments certainly were relevant to the bill, and I note his interest in it. Whether it be the member for Petrie at the table or the member for Gorton at the table, every one of us has constituencies that are relevant to migrant communities. Every one of us is sensitive to those communities. Each one of us considers those communities as we deliberate in this House. In fact, there would be no-one in this building now, including those in the gallery, who does not have one person removed from them who migrated to this country. After all, we were all migrants at one time.

This bill is a technical bill identifying information provisions that were inserted into the Migration Act in 2004. They created a scheme for the collection, access and disclosure of personal identifiers in various circumstances. Since the provisions were inserted, some unintended consequences of their operation have been identified and these need to be rectified. While this bill may be seen as making relatively technical changes to the Migration Act, they are nevertheless important amendments. In particular, these amendments will increase the list of permitted grounds for access to and disclosure of identifying information.

While this bill relates to amending the personal identifiers of people moving in and out of this great south land, I think it is appropriate that I take the opportunity to inform the House on the overall commitment this government has to the challenge of border protection and national security. The Howard government has demonstrated a proactive approach to the challenge of border protection and national security since the tragic episodes of 2001 that changed the way we look at the world. It has implemented more than 100 measures and injected funding in excess of $6.7 thousand million to fight terrorism and improve national security.

The 2006 budget built further on this direction by providing over $1.2 thousand million to fund additional national security related measures. This will provide Customs with an additional $7.1 million over three years for improved border controls in South-East Asia, as well as $333 million over the next four years to meet other emerging challenges facing our borders. This includes a new $388.9 million plan to combat illegal foreign fishing in northern Australian waters. The government will also provide $3.9 million over four years to continue the operation of the border protection safeguards system.

With expansions in new technology used by Customs and the Australian Federal Police, efforts are being made to continue to increase border protection measures, implement more efficient processing of passengers and assist in the detection and prevention of terrorism and serious crime. These include the development of one of the world’s toughest aviation security systems to protect Australians and overseas travellers. In total, the Howard government has committed $8.1 thousand million in new spending on national security since 2001-02.

Why is this bill important? The current arrangements are hampering the day-to-day operations of some parts of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The current arrangements are also impacting negatively on other agencies in the enforcement of criminal law. It has become clear that there have been some unintended consequences of the access and disclosure provisions which need to be rectified. The provisions impose criminal penalties in relation to the access and disclosure of personal information, unless that access or disclosure is expressly permitted.

The identifying information provisions were inserted into the Migration Act by the Migration Legislation Amendment (Identification and Authentication) Act 2004. The act came into effect in August 2004, creating a scheme for the collection, access, disclosure and storage of identifying information such as signatures, photographs, fingerprints and iris scans. However, it has become apparent that the list of permitted disclosure and access grounds is too limited. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship’s ability to continue normal working practices is being seriously hampered.

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions has advised that a number of criminal prosecutions, some for drug importation, have been affected because of the department’s limited ability to provide essential evidence to assist with prosecution. The proposed amendments will introduce a permitted disclosure ground that mirrors the Privacy Act ground of ‘reasonably necessary for the enforcement of criminal law’.

It is important to note that this bill is an omnibus bill which makes amendments to four acts, all of which contain mirror provisions relating to personal identifiers. The amendments are to the Migration Act 1958, the Fisheries Management Act 1991, the Torres Strait Fisheries Act 1994 and the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The reason for ‘mirroring’ the Migration Act in these three acts really comes down to consistency in how identifying information is collected and dealt with under all four pieces of legislation. It will ensure provisions remain consistent across all four pieces of legislation. Another important note here is that the Privacy Commissioner was consulted throughout the development of the bill.

The reasons for the amendments in schedule 1, personal identifiers, include the fact that the current provisions relating to the access to and disclosure of identifying information are hampering the department’s normal work practices and causing problems for the department and other agencies in the enforcement of the criminal law. The amendments will allow additional circumstances under which the Department of Immigration and Citizenship may disclose identifying information to other government agencies. The key circumstances include, firstly, to prevent or lessen a serious threat to life or death. For example, if the department held a photograph of someone who made a threat against an Australian embassy or high commission, these amendments would allow the department to provide the photograph to the Australian Federal Police, the appropriate security agency or the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to help respond to the threat. In particular, this would assist in identifying the person making the threat and ensuring appropriate safety precautions for staff are undertaken.

The second aspect is to assist the Migration Agents Registration Authority to investigate complaints against migration agents themselves. There is a code of conduct for migration agents in Australia. The code is there to ensure the migration advice profession in Australia maintains high standards and to protect clients from unscrupulous agents. Currently, the department is not allowed to disclose identifying information to assist with an investigation of a migration agent offence unless the non-citizen client has given written consent. Obtaining this written consent can be difficult if the person has returned overseas. This bill will make amendments to ensure the important work of MARA is not stymied because a person who has made a complaint about a migration agent has returned overseas.

The third aspect is when it is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of criminal law. A number of drug importation investigations and prosecutions have been delayed or hampered by the existing arrangements. This new permitted disclosure ground will allow the department to provide identifying information where reasonably necessary for the enforcement of criminal law. The amendment will allow the department to disclose a signed incoming passenger card to the Australian Federal Police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions to assist with the investigation and prosecution of drug importation matters. A person’s date of arrival is crucial evidence in these matters, and the department is the caretaker of this information.

The fourth aspect is to permit disclosure if required by or under law. This new disclosure ground will allow the department to provide identifying information in response to a search warrant issued by a state or territory law enforcement agency.

The fifth aspect is where the disclosure is to a Commonwealth, state or territory agency, in order to verify that a person is an Australian citizen or holds a visa of a particular class. This will allow the department to share information it holds on a client with other agencies to verify a person’s status. This is important, for example, to assist someone who is not an Australian citizen to establish their entitlements to Commonwealth or state or territory benefits.

The sixth aspect is to permit disclosure of identifying information to transcription and translation companies. Currently, disclosure of an audio tape of an interview to a transcription company is not a permitted disclosure. Departmental staff have therefore been transcribing and translating many of their own interview tapes. This amendment will allow this activity to be undertaken by professional external transcription companies and allow departmental staff to focus on their key important tasks.

This bill does not seek to amend any of the collection provisions of the Migration Act. Collection of personal identifiers under the Migration Act will still only be permitted if a person is not an Australian citizen. Nor does the bill remove the criminal penalties that are in place if the access and/or disclosure are not permitted.

Schedule 2 deals with authorisations relating to the release of movement records with the department’s movements reconstruction database. These amendments will allow the department to release an individual’s movement records to that person or their appointed agent. Individuals may require their movement records as evidence for health insurance, taxation or other purposes. Because of the way the current provisions operate, an individual must apply for access to this information under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. Access through this process is unnecessarily complex and resource intensive. This amendment will provide the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship with the power to disclose to individuals their own movement records, avoiding the need for them to make an FOI request. This is consistent with the general policy approach that government agencies should facilitate access by an individual to his or her own information.

Schedule 3 is the amendment to the fisheries detention offence. New fisheries offences were created by the Fisheries Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fishing Offences) Act 2006. This is a technical amendment which will ensure that enforcement visas are granted to noncitizens who have been brought to Australia in relation to these new offences.

In closing, I would like to make a few remarks. I would like to congratulate the minister and thank the minister for his cooperation with our backbench policy committee and the party room for the opportunity to scrutinise this bill at length. I congratulate the chairman of that committee, the member for Canning, and the member for Kooyong for their extensive work. I also congratulate the staff who worked with both of those members—staff from the department and from the legal parts of the government. They were receptive and they worked well together. It is a credit to this House and to the systems under which we work that an individual’s privacy and protection are sacred—and they are sacred. They are sacred because we as a parliament go to great lengths to ensure that an individual’s rights and privacy are protected and that they are treated fairly under the law. Whilst these are technical changes, they are important. They have been subjected to close scrutiny by the department and by the members of the backbench committee. The minister should be congratulated for his ability to take into consideration and navigate that fine line between information about privacy and information about the enforcement of criminal law and how that law is executed. The minister and his staff have done an excellent job.

Finally, the immigrant communities of Gippsland, which I represent in part—the member for Gippsland and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Mr McGauran, and the member for Flinders, Greg Hunt, also represent the area—held a function last Sunday. Don Di Fabrizio and his team decided that they wanted to erect a memorial in recognition of the contribution that immigration has made to Australia. As part of that process last year in Korumburra, the Prime Minister announced that the Commonwealth would assist in funding the memorial. On Sunday in Morwell, in front of many hundreds of people, a beautiful statue and many plaques listing the names of all the immigrants to the Gippsland area were unveiled. It was a huge celebration not only for the Italian community but also for all the immigrants who came to build the infrastructure of the Latrobe Valley that is Gippsland and to create the farming communities. They told me about the first Fergie tractor they got and how they no longer had to milk cows by hand. I know the member for Gorton has a background with these people too, and he knows the area very well.

What an event it was. Minister Kevin Andrews attended the event, and given that he is a former Gippslander he had a lot to say. I know I am digressing from the bill, but we have been talking about these issues particularly, Mr Deputy Speaker, and you are being very kind to me to allow me to digress. When the minister walked in, I was handed a photograph I think of the third grade of the Rosedale Primary school. The minister’s teacher pointed out Kevin Andrews sitting in the back row of the class. She said, ‘And that’s me; I’m the teacher right there.’ The event brought together the various groups that make up the Gippsland area and demonstrated how it came to be. Twenty-six per cent of Australians were not born in this country, but their links become part of our community.

The legislation that we have been talking about has a direct impact on the Gippsland area, particularly around Morwell, Sale and Bairnsdale, down to Korumburra, out to Leongatha, through Moe, Newborough and the surrounding area. The people who changed this country are real; they built this country, grew the crops, established the farms, introduced new initiatives and changed the way we lived and ate.

These are technical bills, and I have outlined the technical aspects. However, it was a privilege to be there when Don Di Fabrizio’s brainchild was finally unveiled by the minister on Sunday. Members have heard the term ‘It’s a great day for the Irish’ but on this occasion it was a great day for the Italians and all of the other communities that attended the celebrations at Morwell. I commend the bill to the House.

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