Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, I present the committee's advisory report on the Migration (Visa Evidence) Charge Bill 2012 and the Migration Visa Evidence Charge (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2012.

In accordance with standing order 39(f) the report was made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—It gives me pleasure today to present the advisory report of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration on the Migration (Visa Evidence) Charge Bill 2012 and the Migration Visa Evidence Charge (Consequential Amendments) 2012. These bills were referred to the migration committee by the Selection Committee on 10 May 2012.

The bills will introduce a charge for the issuing of hard-copy evidence that a visa is held by a non-citizen visa holder. Evidence in hard-copy form that such a person holds a visa is usually provided as a visa label or as an imprint placed in the visa holder's passport. Currently Australia does not charge a fee for issuing these visa labels and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship provided over one million labels or imprints during 2011. Despite the issue of these labels, the government actually relies on an electronic visa entitlement verification system, called VEVO, to validate a person's visa status and entitlements online. VEVO is also accessible to registered organisations which may need to verify a person's visa status as well as to visa holders themselves. According to the department, two-thirds of its current visa case load is processed electronically. Yet 90 per cent of clients at migration counters still request hard-copy evidence of their visa even though it is not necessary.

Currently, visa holders are entitled under the Migration Act to hard-copy evidence of their visa status. These bills will amend the Migration Act to introduce a charge for the issue of hard-copy evidence, on the basis that the electronic visa evidence accessible through VEVO makes the need for hard-copy evidence redundant. The charge is to discourage people requesting the hard-copy evidence. The maximum charge limit will be $250, although the department has indicated that the actual amount charged will be much less. There will be different scales of charges, exemptions to the charges and nil fees for certain visa classes. The department estimates that the charge will recover some $90 million over the three years following implementation.

The Selection Committee and members of the migration committee questioned the scale of the charges, the projected revenue to be raised and whether the electronic VEVO system really does replace the need for hard-copy evidence of visas. The committee conducted its inquiry by issuing questions on notice to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. The list of questions asked is contained in the appendix to the committee's report. The committee was satisfied overall with the department's responses. The committee accepts that the main justification for introducing the fees is to encourage visa holders and registered organisations to accept electronic verification alone. This is part of a global transition towards visa-label-free travel and electronic confirmation of visas.

The committee has recommended that the legislation be passed. However, the committee does believe that the associated explanatory memoranda should be more comprehensive. Accordingly, we have recommended that the explanatory memoranda be expanded and retabled. I would like to thank my colleagues on the committee for their work on this inquiry, especially the deputy chair, the member for Macquarie. I commend the report to the House.

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