PrintRefugee, humanitarian and assisted movements—passage and associated costs
Objective
Assist the movement of applicants approved for entry to Australia under the refugee component of the offshore Humanitarian Program and a proportion of offshore entrants under the secondary movement provisions.
Description
In November 2007 the department entered into a new deed of reimbursement with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for the assisted passage of applicants approved for entry to Australia under the refugee component of the offshore Humanitarian Program. This deed replaced the previous contract which had been in place since 2004.
The assistance provided under this deed covers the full cost of medical examination and airfares for eligible entrants. These included the following visa subclasses:
- Refugee (subclass 200)
- In-country Special Humanitarian (subclass 201)
- Emergency Rescue (subclass 203)
- Woman at Risk (subclass 204)
- a proportion of Secondary Movement Offshore Entry (Temporary) (subclass 447) and Secondary Movement Relocation (Temporary) (subclass 451).
The IOM arranges medical screening services for applicants when requested by the department's overseas posts. The IOM is responsible for ticketing, pre-embarkation and coordination arrangements associated with the movement of assisted refugees. The IOM is reimbursed for all transportation and service costs incurred in the movement of these funded refugees to Australia.
Performance
In 2007–08, $11.03 million was allocated under this program. There were 5786 refugee and humanitarian entrants assisted with travel and the overall expenditure on travel and associated services was $12.97 million. The variation was due to changes in costs associated with the new deed and an additional $2.333 million was spent in 2007–08 to cover the travel and medical costs associated with the resettlement of locally engaged staff of the Australian Defence Force in Iraq. There were approximately 12 800 medical examinations performed in 2007–08, including pre-departure medical checks for an estimated cost of $2.52 million.
Table 65: Refugee, humanitarian and assisted movements—passage and associated costs—performance information| Measures | Results |
|---|---|
| Quantity | |
| 6 000 refugees moved to Australia | 5 786 |
| 12 000 refugee applicants medically screened for entry to Australia | 12 8001 |
| Quality | |
| Payments for travel and medical processing are made in line with contractual obligations and scheme eligibility criteria | Yes |
- This is an indicative figure. The department expects that when consolidated reports become available at the end of October 2008, the final number of screenings reported will be approximately 12 800.
