Who We Are
On this page
What we do
The purpose of the The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is to 'enrich Australia through the well managed entry and settlement of people'.
The department's philosophy and future directions are set out in The DIAC Plan.
See: The DIAC Plan
DIAC is committed to ensuring that it is open and accountable, deals fairly and reasonably with clients and has staff that are well trained and supported. The department's operational theme is people our business.
Since its establishment in 1945, DIAC has managed the arrival and settlement in Australia of around 6.5 million migrants from 200 countries, including 660 000 arrivals under humanitarian programmes.
During 2005-06, DIAC staff:
- helped around 143 000 people migrate to Australia
- resettled another 14 000 people under humanitarian and refugee programmes
- issued a total of 3.97 million visitor and other temporary entry visas
- conferred Australian citizenship on more than 102 000 people and registered another 13 000 as citizens
- worked with other agencies to ensure the integrity of Australia's border.
Executives
The department is headed by the Secretary, Mr Andrew Metcalfe and three deputy secretaries - Mr Bob Correll PSM, Ms Carmel McGregor and Peter Hughes PSM.
See: Senior Staff
It has around 6000 staff (including 165 staff based at Australian diplomatic missions overseas) and an annual operating budget of $1.2 billion. The Translating and Interpreter Service also has 1588 people on contract.
Key objectives
The department's key objectives, as set out in The DIMA Plan are to:
- manage the lawful and orderly entry and stay of people in Australia, including through effective border security
- promote a society which values Australian citizenship, appreciates cultural diversity and enables migrants to participate equitably.
The Australian Government takes its humanitarian responsibilities very seriously and DIAC's offshore humanitarian programme continues to rank in the top three programmes in the world dedicated to the resettlement of refugees from overseas. In 2004-05, the government provided 13 000 places in its humanitarian programme (up from 12 000 in the previous year), including 6000 for offshore refugees. In 2005-06, a total of 14 122 visas were issued under the programme.
At the same time, the government looks to DIAC to ensure the integrity of Australia's borders. Border security is a key component of Australia's national security arrangements and the department works actively with other countries to curb the capacity of people smugglers and terrorists to circumvent border controls.
The way forward
Following two major inquiries in 2005 which criticised aspects of the department's detention and compliance activities, the department embarked on a programme of continuous and substantive reform to improve its structure and governance. The department also introduced vigorous compliance training for its staff, more effective IT systems and also initiated a new tender process for the provision of detention services.
See: On the Move to Improve
The department has adopted the phrase people our business to highlight the priority it places on its key stakeholders - its clients and its own staff.