DIMIA Annual Report 2004-05
Secretary's review
I commenced as Secretary to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (the department) on 18 July 2005, after the end of the formal reporting period. The last year was a period of focused public scrutiny of the department. Some of our activities were the subject of intense debate in the Parliament, in the media and undoubtedly around kitchen tables and in workplaces around Australia.
The criticism came to a head in July 2005 with the public release of the report by Mr Mick Palmer AO APM of his Inquiry into the Circumstances of the Immigration Detention of Cornelia Rau. That report also covered aspects of the department's handling of the case of Vivian Alvarez Solon, on which a full report will be made by Mr Neil Comrie AO APM under the auspices of the Ombudsman in October 2005.
Mr Palmer identified a number of areas where the department had made mistakes and where substantial improvement is necessary. Making those improvements is a large part of my job.
Along with the senior staff in the department, I have recognised that while the Palmer Report focused on detention and compliance activities, the recommendations have much broader implications for the department. Indeed, there are lessons for other public sector organisations and these have been considered by all Australian Government departmental Secretaries.
Leadership, governance, values and behaviour, client service, openness, training and instructions and support for staff have all come under the microscope. Changes to procedures and protocols are obvious solutions, as are a better focus on client service, record-keeping, integrated systems, training and staff support. But none of this will be sufficient without broader cultural change. I have made a commitment to make the changes necessary to ensure that the department becomes the kind of organisation that meets the expectations of the Government and the wider community.
On 8 August 2005, I briefed all departmental staff on the direction for change and the three major themes that will guide us in becoming the kind of organisation we need to be. We must become a more open and accountable organisation that deals reasonably and fairly with clients and has staff that are well trained and supported. These themes are summed up in the phrase we have adopted to underpin all that we do: people-our business. It reminds us that people are at the core of all our activities and that the decisions we take have a direct impact on their lives. That is why it is important to get our decisions right the first time. I have emphasised to all staff that our approach is always to make common sense, reasonable and lawful decisions. Therein lies our key to open, accountable and supportable decision-making.
I believe this framework will allow the department to move forward to implement both the specific recommendations of the Palmer Report and to address the broader issues Mr Palmer raises in relation to the culture and performance of the department. Many changes have already been made and were well underway before Mr Palmer reported on 14 July 2005. We had established the National Identity Verification and Advice Unit as a direct response to concerns about the handling of identity issues. We introduced Detention Review Managers in each jurisdiction where people are detained to review cases where a person's identity and status are not quickly confirmed and to ensure that decisions to detain are soundly based and regularly reviewed. We made substantial improvements to health services provided in immigration detention centres, particularly in relation to mental health issues. More will be done.
Concerns about arrangements for long-term detainees, especially families with children, have been addressed through a range of measures announced by the Prime Minister on 17 June 2005. Further changes to legislation and the way we handle people in detention have been made to ensure that the current policy is administered with greater flexibility, fairness and in a more timely manner. Applications for protection visas must now be finalised within three months and the department is further committed to finalising the existing caseload of permanent protection visa applications from temporary protection visa holders by 31 October 2005. New non-compellable and non-delegable powers were provided to the Minister personally to specify alternative arrangements for a person's detention and to grant a visa to a person in detention. These new arrangements ensured that by 29 July 2005, all children and their families had been removed from immigration detention centres.
There is much more to do. Over the coming months I will be working with our portfolio ministers to ensure the department implements a suite of measures to address the specific concerns raised by Mr Palmer and the broader criticism directed at the department. Engaging with our critics is a key step, and I have sought the views of a broad range of individuals and organisations that have an interest in immigration issues or a role in external scrutiny. Not all of the feedback is negative; much of it is positive and constructive. I will develop and strengthen those relationships.
One of the department's other key tasks is to work closely with our Ministers to assist them in getting squarely before the public the facts on immigration matters. For example, some businessmen recently commented to me that they supposed there were still thousands of 'refugees' in detention. I suspect many people believe this to be the case. In fact, less than 30 per cent of the 675 people in immigration detention as at 2 September 2005 were in the process of seeking Australia's protection. The significant majority of detainees are visa overstayers, or persons found breaching visa conditions. It is also true that Australia has a very proud record of resettling refugees from overseas and the numbers have increased.
Deserved criticism in some areas should not mean that we do not recognise the very real and significant achievements of the department and its programs in other areas. We manage and provide advice on migration and humanitarian policy, border control, Australian citizenship, multicultural affairs, settlement services and Indigenous affairs. I will talk about some of those things to give an overall sense of the magnitude and complexity of the job we do.
MIGRATION PROGRAM
The department celebrated its 60th anniversary in July 2005 and, since it was established, it has played an important part in building our nation. Last year we assisted over 120 000 migrants to settle in Australia and this included better than planned outcomes for employer sponsored migration and State specific migration. The skilled stream (77 880 places) made up 65 per cent of the total program (up from 62 per cent in 2003-04), reflecting levels of demand and the needs of a very strong Australian labour market. This program will deliver significant fiscal and economic benefits in the years ahead.
E-VISA DEVELOPMENTS
We have always been a world leader in developing 'e-commerce' tools to streamline activity. Four years ago the department released its new 'e-Visa' product. Clever technology, developed in-house, married the internet with the department's main visa processing system to create a convenient and efficient visa lodgement option for clients. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all around the world. Take-up rates for e-Visas have continued to grow. In any given hour we receive over 500 visa applications, most of them via electronic means. More than 60 per cent of long stay temporary business visitors and nearly 100 per cent of working holiday makers lodged their visa applications electronically. This is in addition to the almost three million tourists who arrived in Australia last year on an Electronic Travel Authority.
HUMANITARIAN PROGRAM
Australia takes its international humanitarian responsibilities very seriously. Our offshore humanitarian program continues to rank in the top three programs in the world dedicated to the resettlement of refugees from overseas. 2004-05 saw the full delivery of the Government's increased humanitarian program (up from 12 000 to 13 000 new places), including 6000 for offshore refugees (an increase of 50 per cent). Key source regions were again Africa, the Middle East and South West Asia. I took the opportunity in the first weeks of my appointment to meet newly arrived refugees from Africa and Afghanistan and see first hand the impact our humanitarian program has on the lives of individuals, who have suffered terribly and to whom Australia offers the opportunity to rebuild lives.
SUPPORTING TOURISM AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Tourism and international education are major contributors to the Australian economy and both continue to grow. Our focus has been on facilitating the entry of tourists and students through streamlined visa processing while maintaining the integrity of our border. We facilitated visa delivery for around 600 major international events hosted in Australia in 2004-05, a 50 per cent increase over the previous year. Planning is well underway for the Commonwealth Games in March 2006 and we can now look forward to facilitating World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
International cooperation work by the department strengthened border security, migration and humanitarian program outcomes. Substantial bilateral activity, including in technical work on border control and migration management in some 20 countries, supported better operational cooperation to curb the potential for people smugglers and terrorists to circumvent border controls. The department also continued to lead on managed migration and border-related initiatives in the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and in regional forums such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Bali Process on People Smuggling and in the Pacific region. Our active role with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees encouraged a more practical, solutions oriented approach and greater commitment to resettlement as a durable solution.
RESPONDING TO INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCIES
The department also played an important role in the whole-of-government international response to the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami. Like thousands of other Australians, our staff made substantial personal contributions to assisting those affected by the disaster. Emergency travel documents for citizens and residents helped facilitate their speedy return to Australia. Our records assisted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade consular team track the movements of those travellers reported as missing by friends and family. Visa applications from those affected by the tsunami were given priority.
BORDER SECURITY
National security continues as one of the Government's top policy priorities. Border protection is a key layer in our national security arrangements and the government places a high degree of responsibility on the department to work with other agencies on ensuring the integrity of the border. The department continued its role in chairing the high-level People Smuggling Taskforce, whose work has been informed by a comprehensive strategic assessment on people smuggling prepared by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in November 2004. We are taking the lead in developing the Regional Movement Alert List (RMAL) as an APEC counter-terrorism initiative directed at strengthening border management systems and processes in the region.
CITIZENSHIP
More than 111 000 people became Australian citizens in 2004-05 and there were many significant citizenship ceremonies. On Citizenship Day, 17 September 2004, the Governor-General, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC presided at a citizenship ceremony-the first time a Governor-General has done so. On Australia Day 2005, the Prime Minister-who had attended many citizenship ceremonies- formally presided at his first citizenship ceremony. A number of changes were also announced to bring the 55 year old Australian Citizenship Act 1948 into line with, and to reflect the needs of, contemporary Australia.
MULTICULTURAL AFFAIRS
A record number of Harmony Day events (more than 2700) were sponsored by governments, community organisations and educational institutions, and the 17 Harmony Day partners on 21 March 2005. Harmony Day has gained in public profile to become a permanent fixture on Australia's multicultural calendar. The Living in Harmony initiative partnerships program has strengthened relationships between major Australian institutions and our multicultural communities, with a particular focus this year on the court system and among law enforcement agencies.
SETTLEMENT
Over the past year, settlement services policy development has focussed primarily on the implementation of the core recommendations of the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants (2003). This Review set the framework for the new Settlement Grants Program formulated around needs-based settlement planning. The new program commences on 1 July 2006, replacing the current Community Settlement Services Scheme program and ceasing core funding to Migrant Resource Centres and Migrant Service Agencies. Concurrently, the Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy has been restructured and tender negotiations are being finalised on 20 new contracts for the delivery of settlement services to humanitarian entrants. The new contracts are due to commence in October 2005.
INDIGENOUS AFFAIRS
The Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OIPC) was created within the department on 1 July 2004 to coordinate and drive the Government's new arrangements in Indigenous affairs. Mr Wayne Gibbons, the Associate Secretary of OIPC, provides a more detailed review of the activities of OIPC later in this report. But I would like to comment that OIPC has met the considerable challenge of implementing the policy and legislative changes that followed the abolition of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and the associated service delivery agency, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) and the transfer of ATSIC-ATSIS programs to other agencies. The staff of OIPC are to be commended for their effort.
IMPROVING OUR BUSINESS PROCESSES
There has been a sustained focus on measures to improve information technology (IT) processes and services and to plan for future demand, including business and workforce planning. Information management remains a priority. However, the Palmer Report raised a number of issues relating to systems design, information retrieval and record keeping that we must address as a matter of urgency. Support for integrated case management and decision-making will be key priorities for IT development in coming months.
THE YEAR AHEAD: BUILDING A COMPETENT AND CONFIDENT DEPARTMENT DELIVERING FOR AUSTRALIA
I have no doubt that 2005-06 will be a significant challenge for the department. I have asked all staff to do three things as we work through the changes that are necessary if we are to meet the expectations placed on us:
- to engage and commit to the change process
- to take a whole-of-government and whole-of-department approach to all of our work
- to keep the business running while we undertake this ambitious and essential change process.
The pressure to deliver to our clients and to deliver outcomes across our core business continues while we make the changes. Working with industry and state and territory governments to enhance the delivery of the skilled migration program and improve our competitive edge is a key priority for the department in 2005-06. Border security continues as a major focus and we will be redeveloping one of the key counterterrorism tools, the Movement Alert List (MAL) to ensure its continued successful operation. Departmental staff will continue to make a positive contribution in administering world-class migration, humanitarian, settlement, multicultural, border and Indigenous programs.
Change does not come easily to large organisations-it takes time and commitment. And while under no illusions about the scale of the task, I am very confident that departmental staff have the capacity to deliver on the change agenda that I describe in detail above. We shall be judged on what we have achieved. I look forward to reporting next year and demonstrating the practical changes we have made on a range of levels.
Andrew Metcalfe
Secretary