Joe Ludwig (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) The tribunals' total operating expenditure for the 2010-11 financial year was $46.0 million.

(2) The tribunals' operating expenditure for the 2010-11 financial year was $1.2 million higher than the $44.8 million for the 2009-10 financial year.

(3) The tribunals' budgeted total operating expenditure for the 2010-11 financial year (for finalising 8,300 cases, as per the Portfolio Budget Statements 2010-11) was $42.5 million. The tribunals' recorded an actual total operating expenditure of $46.0 million in finalising 9,181 cases.

(4) (a) Four members did not seek a further appointment.

  (b) Seventeen of the 42 members who sought reappointment were not appointed for a further term.

  (c) The appointments were advertised and applicants, including members seeking reappointment, were assessed against the selection criteria by a selection committee in accordance with the Australian Public Service Commission's guidelines in relation to the appointment of statutory office holders. Those applicants who were rated most highly against the selection criteria were recommended for appointment.

(5) (a) Following negotiations, a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the tribunals and the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) on 9 August 2011.

  (b) Under the terms of the 9 August 2011 MOU, the tribunals invoiced DIAC fees totalling $326,721 (excluding GST) for the provision of legal services and country advice services to the Independent Protection Assessment Office (IPAO) for the period 1 March 2011 to 31 August 2011.

(6) Twenty-three new tribunal members were appointed for periods of five years on 1 July 2011 comprising one senior member, 10 full-time members and 12 part-time members. In addition four full-time members were promoted to senior members.

(7) (a) The key performance indicator of fewer than 5% decisions set aside by judicial review was met in the 2010-11 financial year and 2011-12 to date. In 2010-11, 0.3% of MRT and 1.1% of RRT decisions were set aside by judicial review. In 2011-12, no decisions made have yet been set aside by judicial review.

  (b) The key performance indicator of 70% bridging visas decided within seven working days from lodgment was met in the 2010-11 financial year and in 2011-12 to date. In 2010-11, 96% of bridging visas were decided within seven working days from lodgment. In 2011-12, 98% of bridging visas were decided within seven working days from lodgment.

  (c) The key performance indicator of 70% of RRT cases decided within 90 calendar days from receipt of the Department's documents was met in the 2010-11 financial year, but not met in 2011-12 to date. In 2010-11, 71% of RRT cases were decided within 90 calendar days. In 2011-12 to date, 52% of RRT cases were decided within 90 calendar days.

Reasons for cases taking longer than 90 days are included in reports to the Minister prepared every four months under section 440A of the Migration Act 1958 and tabled in Parliament. The report covering 1 July to 31 October 2011 is currently being prepared. For this reporting period, factors contributing to a lower compliance rate were increased lodgments and a reduction in member capacity, with members unavailable while undertaking independent protection assessments in relation to irregular maritime arrivals.

  (d) The key performance indicator of 70% of MRT visa cancellation cases decided within 150 calendar days from lodgment was not met in the 2010-11 financial year or in 2011-12 to date. In 2010-11, 60% of MRT visa cancellations were decided within 150 days from lodgment. In 2011-12 to date, 25% of MRT visa cancellations were decided within 150 days from lodgment.

The capacity to decide MRT visa cancellation cases within 150 days of lodgment has reduced as lodgments have increased and members have been unavailable while undertaking independent protection assessments in relation to irregular maritime arrivals.

  (e) The key performance indicator of 70% of MRT cases decided within 350 calendar days from lodgment was not met in the 2010-11 financial year or in 2011-12 to date. In 2010-11, 55% of MRT cases were decided within 350 calendar days from lodgment. In 2011-12 to 31 October, 56% of MRT cases were decided within 350 calendar days from lodgment.

The capacity to decide MRT cases has reduced as lodgments have increased and members have been unavailable while undertaking independent protection assessments in relation to irregular maritime arrivals.

  (f) The key performance indicator of fewer than five complaints received per 1,000 cases decided was met in the 2010-11 financial year and in 2011-12 to date. In both the 2010-11 and 2011-12 financial years, fewer than three complaints per 1,000 cases were received.

  (g) The key performance indicator of at least 40% of decisions published was met in the 2010-11 financial year and in 2011-12 to date. In 2010-11, 43% of all decisions were published. In 2011-12 to date, 44% of all decisions were published.

(8) Between 1 July and 31 October 2011 36% of decisions have been set aside by the MRT and 26% by the RRT. By comparison, in 2010-11, 41% of MRT decisions and 24% of RRT decisions were set aside.

The following tables present the set aside rates for MRT, by visa category, and RRT, by country of origin, from 1 July to 31 October 2011 and the 2010-11 and 2009-10 financial years.

MRT SET ASIDE RATES (AND CASES SET ASIDE) BY VISA CATEGORY

RRT SET ASIDE RATES (AND CASES SET ASIDE) BY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN

(9) Between 1 July and 31 October 2011, 816 cases were decided by the RRT.

(10) Between 1 July and 31 October 2011, 2,227 cases were decided by the MRT.

(11) The tribunals' total operating expenditure for the 2011-12 financial year to 31 October was $16.5 million.

(12) No tribunal decisions have been challenged by the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship in the courts in the 2011-12 financial year to 31 October 2011.

(13) The tribunals have experienced large increases in lodgments over the last two years and member capacity has reduced through members who are working as independent protection assessors for the IPAO.

Since 2008-09, lodgments to the MRT and RRT have increased by 33%, rising from 9,960 to 13,281 in 2010-11. Although the tribunals' membership was recently boosted by the appointment of 23 new members to a total of 112 members, 20 members are currently appointed as independent protection assessors, and the tribunals operated for much of 2010-11 with 81 active members. These factors resulted in the tribunals' on-hand caseload almost doubling since 2009, with the number of cases on hand increasing from 6,919 on 1 July 2009 to 13,726 at 31 October 2011.

(14) Funding adjustments are currently being considered and negotiated with the Department of Finance and Deregulation. Updated expense estimates will be provided as part of the 2011-12 Additional Estimates process.

(15) As at 20 November 2011, 3,399 people had been screened into the POD process, with the RSA process continuing in parallel for those people already in that process. Of these, 817 people had been granted a Protection visa and 474 people referred for independent merits review.