DIMA Annual Report 1996-97

Sub-program 8.1: Investigation and Compliance

Objective

To protect the Australian community by ensuring that non-citizens accept and abide by entry, stay and departure requirements.

Description

This sub-program comprises enforcement, deterrence and compliance awareness activities. These activities include the deportation of non-citizens who have committed serious crimes in Australia; the investigation and prosecution of offences under the Migration Act 1958; the location and removal of unlawful non-citizens; data-matching with other Commonwealth agencies; assistance to unlawful non-citizens who approach the Department to regularise their status; and the Employer Awareness Campaign.

The sub-program policy and support services are provided by the Compliance and Enforcement Branch and services are delivered by State and Territory offices.

Financial and staffing resources summary

	1996-97 Budget and AEs $'000s	1996-97 Actual $'000s	1995-96 Actual $'000s
Budgetary (cash) basis
Components of appropriations
Annual appropriations
Running costs	12 211	16 678	12 646
Other program costs	-	-	-
Total appropriations	12 211	16 678	12 646
Less adjustments	326	243	269
Total outlays	11 885	16 435	12 377
Total revenue	-	-	-
Staffing
Staff years (actual)	195	252	208

Performance information

The performance of the sub-program is measured by the extent to which:

1. the character provisions in the Migration Act 1958, including criminal deportation, are enforced;
2. immigration fraud is being effectively addressed by:

   -	successful investigations and prosecution of people who breach migration law;
   -	identification of people who are breaching visa conditions and possibly also defrauding other departments;
   -	cancellation of visas held by people who have breached the conditions of their visas; and
   -	cooperation with other law enforcement agencies.

3. the number of over stayers is reduced; and
4. people depart with lawful status or at least without the need for location and removal.

Performance outcomes

(i) Character provisions

The Migration Act 1958 confers responsibility on the Minister and his delegates for regulating the entry of non-citizens into Australia, in the national interest.

In addition to powers of detention and removal of unlawful non-citizens, the Act contains a number of character-related powers, which include criminal deportation and visa cancellation on character grounds.

Some 34 criminals were deported (33 in 1995-96) and 92 deportation orders were served (45 in 1995-96).

The sub-program substantially improved the timeliness of these decisions, increasingly ensuring that any appeal processes are completed before possible release dates and so reducing time spent in immigration detention.

As at 30 June 1997, decisions had already been made on 77 of the 136 criminals liable to deportation and scheduled to be released in 1997-98.

Seventeen visas were cancelled on character grounds, of which four were cancelled in Australia.

(ii) Immigration fraud

Immigration fraud is a matter of continuing concern to the Department.

Traditionally, immigration fraud is perpetrated to obtain a benefit or advantage to which a person is not entitled, such as prolonging a stay in Australia, gaining access to work, or using Medicare.

In addition, there is an increasing trend internationally for organised crime groups to use immigration fraud to pursue lucrative criminal activities.

The Department's investigations units referred 51 briefs of evidence about immigration fraud to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

A total of 46 people were convicted for offences against the Migration Act 1958 and other Commonwealth legislation.

Additionally, the DPP sent warning letters to 13 other people. The penalties resulting from these convictions were relatively light, consisting of good behaviour bonds and community service.

Minor fraud, where individuals breach work conditions or supply false information on visa applications, is often more cost-effectively dealt with by visa cancellation.

A total of 2 930 visas was cancelled by immigration officers, 770 of which were cancelled at overseas posts.

Cancellations by officers in Australia increased from 1 153 to 2 160; in 544 of these cases the individual concerned was overseas at the time.

Of the cancellations that took place in Australia, 829 were on the grounds that the circumstances which had permitted the grant of the visa no longer applied, while 383 people had their visa cancelled for breach of work conditions, and 202 student visas were cancelled for failure to satisfy course requirements.

The Department matches data with other agencies to prevent access by non-citizens to government-funded benefits and services to which they are not entitled. This, in turn, means that non-citizens are less likely to want to remain in Australia unlawfully.

The Department undertakes data matching with the Department of Social Security (DSS), the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), and the Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DEETYA), and is trialing arrangements with the Health Insurance Commission (HIC).

Arrangements are in place for these agencies to report to the Department unlawful non-citizens detected through data matching or in day-to-day operations.

Some 614 locations occurred through data matching, 1 365 through referral by other agencies, and 327 through referral by police.

All data exchange arrangements are being undertaken in accordance with the Privacy Commissioner's data-matching guidelines.

The Employer Awareness Campaign aims to support employers in their role of ensuring that people without the right to work are not employed, thus removing the employment incentive for overstaying. The key elements of the campaign are:

• Who can I employ, an information kit specially designed to show employers how to check work rights;
• 1 700 information sessions, presented by compliance officers to employers covering 206 000 employees, and a further 160 community awareness sessions;
• publication of employer awareness information in the Group Employer Payment Book, printed by the ATO and distributed to 950 000 employers throughout Australia; and
• advertisements in selected publications targeting employers and backpackers.

The incidence of illegal work is controlled by a combination of the Employer Awareness Campaign and enforcement activities against work breaches.

The percentage of unlawful non-citizens located, who were known to have worked illegally in Australia, dropped from 25 per cent in 1995-96 to 21 per cent. Other measures designed to reduce illegal employment and access to benefits include:

• a new arrangement with the ATO, under which the ATO requires evidence of permission to work before issuing tax file numbers;
• confiscation of Medicare cards, by compliance officers, where they are held by people who should not have access to Medicare; and
• participation in joint operations with the police.

The Department maintains effective liaison with law enforcement agencies to:

• enable effective cross-portfolio law enforcement coordination;
• enhance the effectiveness of immigration entry controls;
• cooperate on fraud matters under investigation by the Department, including people trafficking; and
• contribute actively to the work of law enforcement agencies in combating crime.

Liaison arrangements in place, at the strategic level, include participation in the Heads of Commonwealth Operational Law Enforcement Agencies committee and cooperation with the Office of Law Enforcement Coordination planning committees, such as the Office of Strategic Crime Assessments and the Commonwealth Law Enforcement Intelligence Committee.

Close links are maintained with individual law enforcement agencies including the Australian Federal Police (AFP), State Police, the National Crime Authority (NCA) and the Australian Bureau of Criminal Intelligence (ABCI).

Special emphasis is given to speedy exchange of information assisting law enforcement activities.

The investigations liaison unit handled 7 700 information requests from Commonwealth and State law enforcement agencies, of which 33 per cent were from the ABCI, 19 per cent from the AFP, 18 per cent from the NSW Police, 10 per cent from the NCA and the remainder from other agencies.

Information collected on the illegal movement of people is passed back to relevant authorities in their country of origin, to assist with the possible prosecution of organisers.

Fingerprint matching with other countries is used to check the identity of unlawful non-citizens who arrive in Australia without documentation.

Where such people apply for refugee status, an identity check may determine whether the applicant has prior protection in another country, or has assumed a false identity.

(iii) Over stayers

The number of over stayers in Australia continues to decline. The estimate at June 1996 was 45 100, compared with 51 300 at June 1995.

Table 13: Over stayers in Australia at 30 June 1996

Status on arrival	Number	Percentage of total
Visitors	34 850	77.0
Temporary residents	3 050	6.8
Students	2 950	6.5
Other temporary entry categories	4 250	9.4
Total	45 100	100.0

Officers located 10 138 2000-01, including 3 681 who approached the Department for assistance, and 1 616 who became unlawful as a result of their visas being cancelled.

This is an increase of 30 per cent on 1995-96, when the Department located 7 800 overs2000-01luding 3 287 who approached the Department.

In 1996-97, 1 359 unlawful non-citizens were removed from Australia (1 115 in 1995-96).

(iv) Departures

Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that a total of 4 279 986 people left Australia between 1 July 1996 and 30 June 1997, after visits or periods of temporary residence.

Of these, departmental figures show that 99.8 per cent had lawful status when they departed (99.7 per cent in 1995-96).

Unlawful non-citizens who leave Australia, without first notifying the Department of their intentions, are recorded by the Department's information systems as they exit through airports. Some 9 619 people departed this way (10 788 in 1995-96).

Case outcomes, as shown in the following table, were recorded for people who were located or who approached the Department.

Table 14: Case outcomes

Case outcomes	1995-96	1996-97
Departed lawfully	4 035	4 043
Departed lawfully under supervision	253	252
Removed	1 115	1 359
Granted a substantive visa	1 018	1 046
Other	520	632
Totals	6 941	7 332

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