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About the Department

DIMA Annual Report 2000-01

Output 1.2 Refugee and humanitarian entry and stay

1.2.1 Offshore humanitarian

Description

Through the humanitarian program the Government provides resettlement for refugees and others in greatest need of this durable solution. This output provides for the delivery of the humanitarian program as set by the Government in such a way as to enhance settlement outcomes.

Key results

  • 7,992 visas granted for resettlement places delivered offshore

  • 3,997 offshore refugee places

  • 3,116 Special Humanitarian Program grants

  • 879 Special Assistance Category grants

  • program flexibility managed within available places.

1.2.2 Protection visas (onshore)

Description

Protection visas allow for the stay in Australia of people to whom Australia owes protection obligations under the United Nations 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.

Key results

  • the total number of protection visas granted in 2000-01 was 5,577, which comprised 4,643 primary grants, 857 Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT) remits and 77 s417 grants. Of the 5,577 protection visas granted in 2000-01, 1,125 were permanent visas and 4,452 were temporary visas

  • there was continued streamlining of onshore protection processing and the strengthening of training, country information and fraud checking arrangements to ensure speedy and robust decision making

  • the number of primary finalised applications significantly increased in the program year. Processing times were also significantly reduced for people in detention, from seven and a half months in late 1999 to less than 15 weeks for applications lodged in late 2000, with continued efficient processing of applications lodged by people in the community

  • an increase in the number of trained case managers from 89 in July 2000 to 100 in June 2001 with a further 37 officers in other areas of the department trained as case managers available to undertake protection visa work to meet workload fluctuations

  • the majority of cases reviewed by the Refugee Review Tribunal resulted in the primary decision being upheld by the Tribunal. The small number of decisions set aside included cases in which there were changes in the information and claims presented by the applicant or changes in country information over the period since the primary decision

  • a regulation change ensured that from 1 November 2000 people who had been immigration cleared on fraudulent documents would (like unauthorised arrivals) have access only to Temporary Protection Visas (TPV) in the first instance (with limited exceptions)

  • Medicare access was facilitated for TPV holders, so that from August 2000, TPV holders had access to Medicare without needing to apply for a protection visa (irrespective of when their TPV was granted)

  • Medicare eligibility was removed for those protection visa applicants who had ever applied for a parent visa (on or off-shore) under the Migration Legislation Amendment (Parents and Other Measures) Act 2000

  • in February 2001, the Government response to the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee Report A Sanctuary Under Review was tabled in Parliament

  • a review of the application and interpretation of the Refugees Convention in Australia was started. Its scope will include articulation of the intended principles and objectives of the Convention, identification of areas where domestic and international interpretation of the Convention has departed from those principles, assessment of Australia's performance in relation to our obligations to refugees and asylum seekers and recommendation of remedial action where necessary.

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