DIMIA Annual Report 2001-02
STREAMLINING AND SAFEGUARDING ENTRY
Since 1998-99, fewer people arriving at Australian ports have been refused entry either because they are improperly documented or because they may otherwise fail to meet Australia's entry requirements.
This decline relates to DIMIA's increased ability to combat identity fraud which currently costs the nation around $4b. per year and which has become a global issue in recent years as illegal immigration, forum shopping and people smuggling have escalated.
Forum shopping occurs when a person ignores or abandons protection already available to them and chooses to use their ability to claim refugee status to obtain a migration outcome in a country of their own preference.
At the same time as greater security is required, more people are entering Australia.
The vast bulk of this movement is legitimate and benefits Australia, and therefore must be expedited.
Fig. 8 (see previous page) shows the success of DIMIA's measures to streamline and simplify visa applications from people holding passports from countries eligible for the Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).
While arrivals from these countries have grown significantly in recent years, the proportion of people who remain in Australia after their ETA has expired remains low at 1.5 per cent.
This is well below the non-return rate for visitors from non-ETA countries and below the non-return rate for total visitor arrivals.
Entry arrangements through airports have also been further streamlined and border protection improved through the Advance Passenger Processing system (APP) - the world's most advanced border control system.
Fig. 8 also demonstrates that the non-return rate of visitors from non-ETA countries has dropped very significantly in recent years as a result of the use of profiles of high risk applicants in the assessment of visitor applications.
DETECTION ONSHORE
DIMIA also continued to be a leading innovator in detecting illegal migration activity onshore, e.g. through a new automatic student visa cancellation system which came into operation in 2001-02, leading to a significant increase in visa cancellations, locations and removals.
During 2001-02 the department also continued to address the problem of illegal workers by increasing checks on work rights and working to raise employer awareness.
The department is also developing a corporate data matching strategy designed to expand our capacity to locate unlawful non-citizens and other people of concern by accessing information stored in the databases of other agencies.
DIMIA's success in locating people who have overstayed their
visitor visa is demonstrated by Fig. 9.
