Departmental overview
Table 1: Snapshot of activity in DIMA in 2005-06(1)
| Activity: | |
| Visitor visas | |
| Total | 3 500 000 |
| Electronic travel authority | 3 000 000 |
| Working Holiday Makers | 112 000 |
| Temporary residents | 118 000 |
| Passenger and crew arrivals and departures | 23 000 000 |
| Migrants | 143 000 |
| Humanitarian programme numbers | 14 000 |
| Student visas granted | 191 000 |
| Number of visa overstayers as at 30 June 2006 | 46 000 |
| Number of people detained during 2005-06 | 7 000 |
| Illegal foreign fishers apprehended | 2 900 |
| People in detention at 30 June 2006 | 700 |
| Illegal foreign fishers | 300 |
| Visa overstayers or breached visa conditions | 400 |
| Number of unauthorised arrivals (by air) | 870 |
| Number of unauthorised arrivals (by sea) | 60 |
| New citizens | 103 350 |
| Client contact | |
| Scheduled interviews | 147 000 |
| Number of calls to contact centres | 1 700 000 |
| Litigation | |
| Number of matters resolved | 5 000 |
| Percentage in favour of Minister | 94 per cent |
| Staffing: - Total (as at 30 June 2006) | 7 140 |
| National Office (Canberra) | 2 650 |
| New South Wales | 1 350 |
| Victoria | 800 |
| Queensland | 400 |
| South Australia | 360 |
| Western Australia | 350 |
| Tasmania | 110 |
| Northern Territory | 50 |
| ACT and Regional Offices | 100 |
| Overseas (A-based employee) | 180 |
| Overseas (Locally engaged employee) | 800 |
| Number of overseas offices | 68 |
(1) Numbers are rounded and will differ from numbers appearing elsewhere in the report.
Purpose statement
What difference do we make?
We enrich Australia through the well-managed entry and settlement of people.
What we value:
Following are the values that are important to us.
- Teamwork - We work collaboratively with each other to achieve our business outcomes. We value diversity, actively seek contributions, and commit to open discussions. We operate as a team.
- Service excellence - We strive for excellence when delivering services. We listen to our stakeholders and customers and develop service solutions that meet their needs. We commit to being responsive and accessible, delivering services to prescribed and publicly available standards.
- Respect - We show respect for our clients, stakeholders, and each other. We are approachable and listen to make sure we understand each individual's needs.
- Openness - We are an open organisation, providing visibility and transparency of our processes. We listen and change how we do business based on feedback from clients and stakeholders.
- Commitment - We are committed to delivering government policy in a fair and reasonable way and constantly strive to improve policy and programme performance. We are committed to each other and support each other in times of crisis - we always go the extra mile. We are also committed to a balanced work and personal life, respecting the needs of our staff.
What are our major objectives?
We aim to:
- be an open and accountable organisation
- have fair and reasonable dealings with clients
- employ well trained and supported staff.
How are we doing it?
We go about achieving these objectives through:
- policy services
- service delivery
- governance
- stakeholder engagement
- information management
What is our commitment to government?
We aim to achieve two outcomes for government:
Outcome 1:
Contributing to Australia's society and its economic advancement through the lawful and orderly entry and stay of people.
Outcome 2:
Promote a society which values Australian citizenship, appreciates cultural diversity, and enables migrants to participate equitably.
A review of the outcomes and outputs was undertaken in 2005-06 and minor changes will be reported in the 2006-07 Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements.
Role and functions
The Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs manages the permanent and temporary entry of people to Australia, enforces immigration law, settles migrants and refugees, and promotes the benefits of citizenship and cultural diversity.
The tasks assigned to our portfolio are:
- entry, stay, and departure arrangements for non-citizens
- arrangements for the settlement of migrants and humanitarian entrants, other than migrant child education
- border (immigration) control and security
- citizenship
- ethnic affairs
- multicultural affairs.
The services we provide overseas and in Australia include:
- assessing the character, health, and bona fides of people applying for entry into Australia
- issuing visas for migrants and temporary entrants (for example, tourists, students, and business visitors)
- processing people moving into and out of Australia
- meeting Australia's international protection obligations and contributing to the resettlement of refugees and those in humanitarian need through the delivery of the Humanitarian Programme
- locating, detaining, and removing unlawful non-citizens and non-citizens found not to be of good character
- identifying and reducing irregular migration, people smuggling, trafficking in people, and other immigration malpractice and fraud
- increasing the ability of eligible settlers, (particularly the recently arrived), to participate in Australian life, through settlement programmes including English language tuition, and translating and interpreting services
- promoting the value of Australian citizenship and making decisions on citizenship status
- contributing to maintaining and further enhancing an appreciation of Australia's cultural diversity within a framework of national unity.
Minister
The department is responsible to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon. Amanda Vanstone, and Parliamentary Secretary the Hon. Andrew Robb AO MP.
Portfolio structure
The portfolio consists of the department and two tribunals:
- The Migration Review Tribunal (MRT), is an independent merits review tribunal established to provide fair, just, economical, informal, and quick merits review of decisions of the department to refuse or cancel certain visas.
- The Refugee Review Tribunal (RRT), is an independent merits review tribunal established to provide fair, just, economical, informal, and quick merits review of decisions of the department to refuse or cancel protection visas granted to non-citizens in Australia.
Non-statutory bodies
The following non-statutory bodies advise the portfolio:
- the Council for Multicultural Australia
- the Muslim Community Reference Group
- the Refugee Resettlement Advisory Council
- the Immigration Detention Advisory Group
- the Detention Health Advisory Group.
There is also extensive consultation with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA). Membership of these bodies at 30 June 2006 can be found in Appendix 1.
The portfolio represents the Australian Government interest in one company limited by guarantee - the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) Limited.
Machinery of Government change
The Office of Indigenous Policy Coordination (OIPC) transferred to the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) as part of machinery of government changes formalised by the Administrative Arrangement Order dated 27 January 2006.
The previously named Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) was subsequently renamed the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA). The Administrative Arrangement Order also effected the transfer of the following Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 bodies from this portfolio into the Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Portfolio:
- the Anindilyakwa Land Council
- the Central Land Council
- the Indigenous Land Corporation
- the Northern Land Council
- the Tiwi Land Council
- the Torres Strait Regional Authority
- the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council.
Figure 1: organisational structure as at 30 June 2006
Figure 2 - Outcome and output structure at 30 June 2006
Figure 2 - Outcome and output structure at 30 June 2006 continued
