Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

In relation to the operation of the schemes themselves, both the ASIC scheme and the MSIC scheme, you'd be aware—but I say this for the Hansard record—that they are nationally consistent identification cards that show the holder has met the minimum security requirements to remain unmonitored within an aviation or maritime security zone. All individuals who require an ASIC or MSIC must have a valid background check. To enter an aviation or maritime security zone, an individual must have an operational need for entering the area, and they must display their valid ASIC or MSIC. People who have an operational need to enter a security area, but who do not have in this circumstance an ASIC or MSIC, must be escorted and continuously monitored by an ASIC holder in the secure areas of an airport or by an MSIC holder in the security zones of a port or offshore oil and gas facility.

I have some additional statistics that I can provide the Senate. As at 17 May 2021, there were 120,900 issued ASICs and 101,817 issued MSICs in circulation. In the 2019-20 financial year, AusCheck processed 80,155 ASICs and 40,947 MSIC applications. As I stated, Senator Keneally, those who have an operational need to enter a security area but do not have an ASIC or MSIC must be escorted and continuously monitored by an ASIC holder in the security area of an airport or, in relation to a MSIC, by an MSIC holder in the security zones of a port or offshore oil and gas facility.