Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

The Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2016 amends the Migration Act to allow the refusal of a sponsorship application, to cancel or bar a family sponsor in certain circumstances, to impose statutory obligations on approved sponsors and to facilitate the sharing of personal information. Obviously, family violence or domestic violence is an incredibly serious issue and one that has been responded to in greater measure by Commonwealth, state and territory governments in this country over the last few years, which is something that needs to be acknowledged and welcomed, albeit while pointing out that not all of the responses have been perfect or, indeed, adequate. However, because we are dealing with an important issue, which family violence obviously is, that doesn't mean that we can completely abandon procedural fairness, nor does it mean that we can completely abandon rights such as privacy rights, so the discussion or the conversation in this context often becomes one around where we strike a balance between conflicting imperatives. And that's something that, I'm sure, all members of this chamber wrestle with from time to time across a range of issues.

It's in that context that the Australian Greens express some concerns with the provisions in this legislation. This legislation provides that potential partner or marriage visa sponsors would first need to be approved as a sponsor before the sponsored visa process can commence. It's worth pointing out that the explanatory memorandum makes no mention of why these changes are necessary or what deficiencies there may be in the current arrangements that have led the government to form a view that the amendments that are proposed in this legislation are, in fact, necessary. I refer the Senate to the Australian Law Reform Commission's 2011 report Family violence and Commonwealth lawsimproving legalframeworks, which considered the issue with regulating sponsorship, and during that inquiry the department of immigration submitted:

Such measures could lead to claims that the Australian Government is arbitrarily interfering with families, in breach of its international obligations. It could also lead to claims that the Australian government is interfering with relationships between Australian and their overseas partners in a way it would not interfere in a relationship between two Australians.

The Australian Law Reform Commission concluded that, rather than instituting a separate criterion for sponsorship:

… the safety of partner visa applicants should be promoted by targeted education and information dissemination.

The Australian Law Reform Commission also concluded:

… that, because of concerns about Australia's international obligations, as well as procedural fairness and privacy, sponsorship requirements should not be altered.

So that is the view of the Australian Law Reform Commission.