Kylea Tink (North Sydney, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I move the second reading amendment as circulated in my name:

That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:

"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:

(1) notes that this bill maintains the carve out of a separate, more restrictive procedural code for the Migration and Refugee Division in the Migration Act 1958;

(2) further notes that the bill falls short of meeting its objectives because of its unequal treatment of migrant and refugee applicants;

(3) notes that non-citizens, including those seeking asylum, refugees, and the stateless, already experience structural exclusion and intersecting barriers to accessing justice once they enter into Australia, including impacts of trauma, language barriers, mental health issues, financial distress, and cultural differences; and

(4) calls on the Government to ensure all applicants can equally access a fair and just review and accordingly remove the separate set of procedures under the Migration Act 1958, from this bill so the procedures that apply to applicants generally, also apply to migrant and refugee applicants in the same way".

The package of bills moved through this House in the past few days—the Administrative Review Tribunal Bill 2023 and the consequential and transitional bills No. 1 and No. 2—will deliver much-needed reform to the administrative review processes in this country, and this is welcomed by my community in North Sydney. Indeed, as a community, we've long argued that the decisions of government should always be open to public scrutiny and that elected representatives should do everything in their power to ensure that the people they represent not only participate in the decisions that affect them but also ultimately find ways to make decisions for themselves.

In this context, the administrative review system is one of the most important lines of defence when it comes to protecting individuals' rights from unfair use of power, and its effective operation is therefore essential for public confidence in government. Yet, sadly, the current Administrative Appeals Tribunal has been plagued with inefficiencies and failures after years of abuse. Consequently, this reform cannot come soon enough.

But, in pursuing this reform, this government has ultimately missed an opportunity to finally redress a fatal flaw in our democracy and one that has long stained our international human rights reputation, that being our continued pursuit of the idea that not all people are equal before the law, as, while much of this legislation represents an improvement to the administrative review process in Australia, it falls short of meeting its overall stated objective of creating a unified system because of its unequal treatment of migrant and refugee applicants. Quite simply, many of the benefits sought to be introduced will not apply to the migrant and refugee division, which, given the workload of that division, means they will not apply to the majority of cases currently seeking redress.

It has taken years of advocacy from civil society groups, human rights bodies and refugee and migrant communities to get us to where we are today with this legislation, and I commend the Attorney-General and his team for bringing us this far. But we can take it further.

The amendment I am moving today calls on the government to note that, by maintaining the carve-out of a separate and more restrictive code for the migrant and refugee division in the Migration Act of 1958, the bill ultimately falls short of meeting its objectives. At the same time, it notes that noncitizens, including those seeking asylum, refugees and the stateless, already experience structural exclusion and intersecting barriers to accessing justice once they enter into Australia, including the impacts of trauma, language barriers, mental health issues, financial distress and cultural differences. Finally, it calls on the government to ensure that all applicants can equally access a fair and just review. Accordingly, it removes the separate set of procedures under the Migration Act 1958 from this bill so the procedures that apply to applicants can apply to one and all.

If Australia is serious about having systems that uphold our human rights obligations, then we need to address the current weaknesses we have every step of the way. I call the government to take these amendments seriously and strengthen this legislation, as it is incredibly disheartening to see that those who are seeking our protection continue to be treated as persons with inferior procedural entitlements, when we live in a country where nearly one in two Australians were either born overseas or have an overseas-born parent.

Every human being is born equal and deserving of justice. No-one is above the law. And the law should apply to all equally, regardless of their status in society. This means that the same standards must apply to all when it comes to our Administrative Review Tribunal processes, regardless of race, colour, gender, language, religion, political beliefs, status, or any other unlawful reason. Citizens or noncitizens, all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect for their basic human rights. We must ensure this new system is one that sees human rights protected for all, equally. Let's give this Administrative Review Tribunal the very best shot we have and ensure that every applicant before it receives equal and fair treatment.

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