Alex Hawke (Mitchell, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Migration Amendment (Clarification of Jurisdiction) Bill 2018 amends the Migration Act 1958 and other related legislation to support the effective and efficient management of migration litigation.

The bill clarifies that relevant migration decisions are subject to the judicial review scheme set out in the Migration Act and ensures that those migration decisions are subject to uniform judicial review requirements.

The relevant decisions will be defined in the bill to put beyond doubt what is a migration decision and subject to the judicial review scheme set out under the Migration Act.

The current judicial review scheme under the Migration Act is contained in part 8 and part 8A of the Migration Act. The scheme provides uniform judicial review requirements and procedural provisions for decisions described under the Migration Act as migration decisions.

A key feature of the judicial review scheme is that a challenge to a migration decision must be subject to limited exceptions instituted in the Federal Circuit Court at the first instance. It is appropriate that migration decisions are heard at first instance in the Federal Circuit Court to provide a uniform and streamlined framework for managing the high volume of migration decisions that are litigated and maintaining the efficient use of the court's resources.

The amendments in this bill are necessary following the full Federal Court decision in the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection v ARJ 17. In ARJ 17 it was held that, where there is an error in certain decisions, that decision does not fall within the definition of a migration decision.

The measures in this bill will restore the intended scope of the judicial review scheme under the Migration Act and restore the original policy intent so that there is a uniform judicial review scheme that clearly applies to all migration decisions. This will ensure a more consistent and official judicial review scheme in relation to migration decisions.

I commend this bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.

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