Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee prospective-marriage visa program report. The previous two senators who spoke articulately covered aspects of particular concern the committee dealt with. I would like to mention that the genesis of the report was the many representations made to me and other senators and, in particular, reports in the media last year in relation to young women who had been abused and not provided with proper protections through the visa process. So I was very pleased to have an opportunity to co-author this inquiry, with Senator Cash, because it is something of particular concern to us.

The inquiry demonstrated through the submissions we received that there was overall integrity in the visa process. I really do want to make that point, because I think I have been very public in my condemnation of possible breaches of faith to young women being brought into this country. The inquiry demonstrated that in the main there was strong integrity in the system. Over 99 per cent of visa applications that fall in subclass 300 are for those who are over 18.

As Senator Cash highlighted, our concern is that if there is only one young woman under 18 brought to this country in a way that leads to her personal abuse, in whatever form that is, it is one too many. There were 227 girls under the age of 18 who fell into the category of having a visa that allowed them to come to this country for nine months prior to their betrothal. There are three things I want to raise that I think must be pursued by the government. Firstly, not all of these 227 were interviewed in the country they were seeking to leave—it can be a matter of being considered through paperwork. Through the submissions we have recommended that every single young woman under the age of 18 be personally interviewed on their own. Part of the process for those who are trying to assess whether or not an application is legitimate is the difficulty they have in assessing whether or not it is a forced marriage arrangement. Further guidelines, procedures and education need to be given to the officers in the countries of origin so that they can make a greater assessment, with stronger guidelines and improved integrity.

The department stated that the information collected for each individual is not centrally recorded. On this incredibly emotive subject—and we heard in the submissions that it really does exercise the emotions—there is a tremendous paucity of statistical information on it. We have therefore recommended that there be central recording of all relevant information so that proper statistical analysis can be undertaken over time. This will help us to get a sense of the extent of the incidence of forced marriages here, and even human trafficking, of which there is essentially no statistical recording or analysis whatsoever. So it is very hard to assess whether or not this is an issue in Australia. On the basis of the evidence we heard from witnesses, yes, it is a concern. They believe it is happening here, but there is no statistical information available to provide any backing for that assessment.

Finally, the committee unanimously agreed that the age should be increased to 18 for prospective-marriage visas. At the very least this provides another eight months for girls to develop a little bit more maturity so that they may have the independence and capacity to understand what it is they are doing in coming to Australia. What came out of this inquiry is that a working group should be established to look into the incidence or otherwise of forced marriages and whether in fact forced marriages and human trafficking are real issues here. There is no information on that and that is something we strongly supported, along with information packs to be put together by DIAC.

It is a great report. I commend it to the Senate and I commend it to senators to read because it was a very interesting inquiry and we believe some very good recommendations came out of it. I commend the report and I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.