DIMA Annual Report 1998-99
Sub-program 3.2: Onshore Protection
Performance outcomes
(i) Refugees are protected
Protection
As a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, Australia has an obligation to provide protection to people in Australia who come within the Convention's refugee definition.
In 1998-99, 2000 places were notionally set aside within the Humanitarian Program for Protection Visa grants. A Protection Visa provides the holder with permanent residence in Australia.
The Department received 8257 Protection Visa applications for the program year. A total of 1834 Protection Visas was granted, including 985 at the primary decision stage and 741 following review by the Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT). A further 108 were granted by the Minister using his discretion in the public interest under section 417 of the Act.
Since 18 September 1995, non-citizens previously refused Protection Visas have been barred from making further applications for them. A safety net, in the form of a non-compellable and non-delegable Ministerial discretion to allow further application to be made (section 48B of the Act), ensures that people in special circumstances are not disadvantaged by this provision. In 1998-99, the Minister allowed further applications to be made in 26 instances.
Assistance for asylum seekers
The Asylum Seeker Assistance (ASA) Scheme provides financial assistance to disadvantaged Protection Visa applicants unable to meet their basic needs of food, accommodation, clothing and health care during the decision-making process. The ASA is administered by the Australian Red Cross under an agreement with the Department.
It is available to eligible applicants still awaiting a primary decision six months after lodging their applications. The most vulnerable categories of asylum seekers in financial hardship can seek a waiver of the ASA eligibility criteria under an exemption process incorporated into the ASA agreement with the Red Cross.
The Government's decision to provide a limited extension of the ASA scheme from 1 July 1999, will enable Protection Visa applicants in dire need to be assisted under the Scheme while their refugee claims are being reviewed by a merits review tribunal.
This measure provides protection to the most vulnerable asylum seekers, many of whom will be women and children, without impacting adversely on other measures introduced to maintain the integrity of the Protection Visa process.
Priority for Protection Visa processing is given to applicants in financial hardship.
Payments are made in advance to the Red Cross to operate the scheme. During 1998-99, 1773 clients were assisted at a cost of $8.89 million.
This included $7.57 million for financial assistance, $88 474 for limited health care, $50 763 for torture and trauma counselling in Victoria, $49 599 for financial assistance with PV medical checks and $1.13 million for administration by the Australian Red Cross. This compares with 2015 clients at a cost of $9.63 million in 1997-98.
Top of PagePerformance outcomes
(ii) Decisions are fair, just and informal
Australia is recognised by the UNHCR as having quality refugee determination procedures which deliver fair, lawful and just decisions.
Primary
Primary determinations are made on a case-by-case basis by trained case officers of the Department.
Procedural fairness is incorporated into the primary determination process, benefiting all applicants and guaranteeing transparency of decision-making.
The determination process is non-adversarial and informal, using all available and relevant information concerning the human rights situation in the applicant's home country.
Applicants are given opportunities to comment on any adverse personal information and may submit material in support of their claims to the Department until the time of decision.
Where it is decided to interview the applicant, accredited interpreters are provided if required. Letters to applicants and the decision record are written in plain English.
The quality of decision-making is supported by country information and corroborative advice provided by the Department's Country Information Service (CIS), which collects information and distributes it to decision-makers (primary and review) via an on-line electronic database (CISNET).
At 30 June 1999, CISNET contained more than 32 000 items, and a library of reports, serials and books containing more than 5400 titles.
It also conducts research for primary decision-makers into specific claims made by Protection Visa applicants. Applicants and their representatives may request copies of country information items cited as evidence in decisions.
In 1998-99 the number of countries covered on CISNET increased from 100 to 120 and CIS replied to 546 information requests. Some 36 per cent of replies were provided in five days or less and 60 per cent in 20 days or less. Delays are usually due to difficulties obtaining information from overseas sources.
Since its establishment in 1992, the support provided to decision-makers by CIS has cost over $9.6 million, including nearly $1.3 million in 1998-99.
The Department's Protection Visa Procedures Manual, available to case managers to assist decision-making, was extensively revised and made available electronically. Several chapters have been re-written and simplified, the remainder to come under consideration in 1999-2000.
Easier access to procedures through the departmental electronic legislation package has further enhanced decision-making.
The Department continued its consultations with stakeholders in the refugee determination process to enhance the fairness, consistency and quality of primary decision-making.
Participants in regular consultative forums, including UNHCR, non-government organisations, client groups and migration agents, have commented favourably on the dialogue such forums promote, and on the progress made in improving service to the sub-program's clients.
The Department also liaises closely with and seeks advice from the UNHCR to ensure processes remain fair and just and procedures are transparent.
Training was provided throughout the year. For new case officers joining the sub-program in Sydney, Melbourne and the newly-established Perth office, formal training was over seven days and covered issues of policy, procedure, domestic and international law, and the cultural and other sensitivities to be taken into account in the decision-making process. It was supplemented by on-the-job mentoring and training.
The process of providing additional training to experienced officers continued in the form of seminar-style presentations and printed notes on a range of issues, legal and procedural, as changes occurred.
Review
Unsuccessful applicants are entitled to seek a review of a negative primary decision from the independent Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT). In 1998-99, 5635 applications for review by the RRT were lodged. The RRT completed 7392 cases in 1998-99; of these, 560 were set aside (6966 cases completed and 638 cases set-aside in 1997-98).
Decisions reviewed are de novo decisions (new decisions) which revisit the merits of the case and take into account further evidence and/or changed country circumstances.
Activities of the RRT are presented in its own annual report.
Top of PagePerformance outcomes
(iii) Decisions are economical and quick
The Department was funded to make 8235 Protection Visa determinations in 1998-99. A total of 7145 determinations was made.
The number of applications on hand at June 1999 was 3886, compared with 2892 the previous year.
There was a 1.59 per cent increase in applications in 1998-99 (8257 applications compared with 8128 in 1997-98). On average, 688 applications were received each month.
In 1998-99, applicants from Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan had the highest approval rates at primary decision (79 per cent, 77 per cent and 71 per cent respectively), and accounted for 6 per cent (492) of all applications lodged. In 1997-98, applicants from these countries accounted for 3 per cent (269) of the total number of applications lodged and approval rates were: Afghanistan 77 per cent; Kuwait 64 per cent; and Iraq 52 per cent.
Applicants from Indonesia, the People's Republic of China and Sri Lanka represented a significant proportion of all Protection Visa applications, 40 per cent in 1998-99 compared with 41 per cent in 1997-98.
The approval rate at primary for applicants from Indonesia and the People's Republic of China was low, 0.12 per cent and 0.73 per cent respectively being approved. The approval rate at primary for applicants from Sri Lanka was 17.63 per cent.
Processing priority was given to applications from people in detention, victims of torture and trauma and recipients of ASA.
During 1998-99:
- in an environment marked by increasing unauthorised arrivals by air and boat, average processing time for detention cases decreased from 56 days in 1997-98 to 50 days in 1998-99. There was, however, a reduction in the percentage of cases finalised within the 6 week target period from 60 per cent to 45 per cent;
- the case of one of six identified torture and trauma sufferers in 1998-99 was finalised in the three month target period compared with three of the nine identified in 1997-98;
- 68 per cent of applications from non-East Timorese people in receipt of ASA were finalised within three months of obtaining ASA eligibility, compared with 59 per cent in 1997-98 (processing protection claims by East Timorese is awaiting resolution of litigation); and
- 70 per cent of determinations were processed within three months of the applications being lodged in 1998-99, compared with 57 per cent in 1997-98.