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

by leave—I, and also on behalf of Senator Steele-John, move amendments (1) to (3) on sheet 1891 together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (table), omit the table, substitute:

(2) Clause 3, page 2 (after line 11), at the end of the clause, add:

Note: The provisions of the Migration Regulations 1994 amended or inserted by this Act, and any other provisions of those regulations, may be amended or repealed by regulations made under section 504 of the Migration Act 1958 (see subsection 13(5) of the Legislation Act 2003). However, see item 9 of Schedule 2 to this Act which provides that certain legislative instruments do not come into effect until they have been approved by a resolution of each House of the Parliament.

(3) Page 7 (after line 31), at the end of the bill, add:

Schedule 2 — Disability discrimination

Part 1 — Amendment to the Disability Discrimination Act 1992

Disability Discrimination Act 1992

1 Section 52

Repeal the section.

Part 2 — Amendments to the Migration Regulations 1994

Migration Regulations 1994

2 Subregulation 2.25A(1)

Omit "4005(1)(c), 4007(1)(a), 4007(1)(b) or 4007(1)(c)", substitute "4007(1)(a) or 4007(1)(b)".

3 Paragraph 602.212(8)(d) of Schedule 2

Omit ", other than paragraph 4005(1)(c)".

4 Paragraph 4005(1)(c) of Schedule 4

Repeal the paragraph.

5 Subclauses 4005(2) and (3) of Schedule 4

Repeal the subclauses.

6 Paragraph 4007(1)(c) of Schedule 4

Repeal the paragraph.

7 Subclauses 4007(1A) to (2) of Schedule 4

Repeal the subclauses.

Part 3 — Other provisions

8 Application of amendments

(1) The amendment made by Part 1 of this Schedule applies in relation to a provision in the Migration Act 1958, or a provision in a legislative instrument made under that Act, that was made before, on or after the commencement of this Schedule.

(2) The amendments made by Parts 1 and 2 of this Schedule apply in relation to a visa application under the Migration Act 1958:

(a) made, but not finally determined, before the commencement of this Schedule; or

(b) made on or after that commencement.

(3) The amendments made by Parts 1 and 2 of this Schedule apply in relation to any visa in effect on or after the commencement of this Schedule, whether the visa was granted before, on or after that commencement.

9 Transitional provision

(1) This item applies if:

(a) a person who is a non-citizen was refused a visa, or held a visa that was cancelled, before the commencement of this Schedule; and

(b) the refusal or cancellation was wholly or partly on the basis that the person failed to satisfy, or to continue to satisfy, the requirements of paragraph 4005(1)(c) or 4007(1)(c) of Schedule 4 to the Migration Regulations 1994 as in force before the commencement of this Schedule.

(2) Despite section 48 of the Migration Act 1958, or any other provision of that Act or regulations made under that Act, the refusal or cancellation is to be disregarded in determining whether the person may:

(a) apply for a visa of any class; or

(b) have such an application made on the person's behalf.

10 Affirmative resolution

(1) This item applies to regulations made under section 504 of the Migration Act 1958 that:

(a) are made on or after the commencement of this Schedule; and

(b) have the effect of amending or repealing, or otherwise altering the effect or operation of, the amendments of the Migration Regulations 1994 made by this Schedule.

(2) The regulations do not come into effect until they have been approved by a resolution of each House of the Parliament.

These amendments will remove the ableism entrenched in Australia's migration system by repealing section 52 of the Disability Discrimination Act, along with public interest criteria and related provisions in schedule 4 of the Migration Regulations 1994. These are the elements in the statutes that allow for the ableism in Australia's migration system that I've spoken about repeatedly in this place, and particularly over the last two or three days.

I make note that recommendation 4.31 of the recently published report by the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability called for a review of section 52 of the DDA, with a view to inform reforms that would eliminate or minimise discrimination in our migration system and reflect our international human rights obligations. I note that this was also a recommendation of the 2010 Enabling Australia: inquiry into the migration treatment of disability report by the Joint Standing Committee on Migration, from an inquiry which was chaired by then Labor MP the Hon. Michael Danby, and it has been a recommendation of countless folks with disability, groups, NGOs and other stakeholders in the civil society over many years.

The Welcoming Disability campaign, which is supported by over 100 disability and human rights organisations and experts, has said it is deeply concerned that successive federal governments have failed to act on many of the Enabling Australia report's fundamental recommendations and have called on Labor to end this government discrimination by removing the ableism in Australia's migration system.