This output:

• gives effect to the requirement in migration legislation that unlawful non-citizens who have no lawful basis to remain in Australia be removed
• facilitates and monitors the voluntary departure of people who have no entitlement to remain in Australia
• delivers security to the Australian community through the removal of unlawful non-citizens who may be of concern to the public for reasons such as involvement in serious criminal activity.

Description

Under this output, the department facilitates the departure of people who have no entitlement to remain in Australia. These people either:

• depart voluntarily as an assisted voluntary return or monitored departure, or
• are removed or deported under the Migration Act 1958.

Unlawful non-citizens may be granted a bridging visa to allow them to voluntarily depart or to remain in the community while their substantive visa application, merits or judicial review proceedings are being considered.

The department's new approach to departure, involving early intervention and targeted assistance, has been critical in achieving accelerated immigration outcomes for clients, including voluntary returns. Under this approach, non-citizens who are willing to depart Australia but require support to do so can be referred to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) for assistance and their departure monitored.

Unlawful non-citizens may be detained in an immigration detention centre, in accordance with the government's immigration detention values, in community-based detention or other detention arrangements for the purpose of removing them from Australia.

The department is working to ensure people are detained for the shortest possible time prior to their removal.

The department has established effective arrangements with most countries to obtain travel documents to enable removal of people who have no entitlement to remain in Australia. Departmental staff liaise with foreign missions in Australia and directly with foreign agencies overseas to facilitate the return of these people.

Performance

In 2008–09, the department assisted or managed the departure of some 6818 people from Australia. This included assisted and monitored departures of people in the community on bridging visas as well as the removal of people (both on request and involuntarily) from immigration detention. This represented an overall decrease of some 19 per cent over the 8404 departures in 2007–08.

The main reason for the drop in these departures was the significant reduction in the number of illegal foreign fishers reaching Australian shores. Instead of removing more than 1200 fishers (as was the case in 2007–08) the department removed 200 in 2008–09. This alone accounts for 65 per cent of the reduction in departures.

Of the compliance-related departures, there was a seven per cent increase in the number of assisted and monitored departures of people in the community on bridging visas, from 57 per cent of the caseload in 2007–08 to 64 per cent in 2008–09.

Of the removals from immigration detention in 2008–09, about 73 per cent were removed within two weeks of their detention.

Those who were detained for longer periods before their removal will generally have taken some action (such as seeking judicial review or ministerial intervention) which meant that they were not available for removal throughout the full period of their detention. Where possible, individuals are maintained lawfully in the community through the grant of bridging visas while they resolve their immigration status and are detained only for the minimum period prior to their removal or voluntary departure.

Removal Pending Bridging visas

The Removal Pending Bridging visa (RPBV) came into effect on 11 May 2005 and was intended to enable the release, pending removal, of people in immigration detention who had been cooperating with efforts to remove them from Australia but whose removal was not reasonably practicable at that time.

RPBV holders are entitled to a range of support services including assistance from Centrelink and access to Medicare.

RPBVs may be granted using the minister's non-delegable, non-compellable public interest power to grant a visa to a person in immigration detention. This power is in section 195A of the Migration Act 1958.

RPBVs are granted in circumstances where a client's removal is likely to take some time to effect due to the presence of one or more complex issues such as the need to establish a client's identity or nationality, the existence of serious medical conditions requiring special treatment and planning, or the need to ensure a client's removal will not breach any of Australia's international obligations.

The inherent complexity in this caseload requires a high degree of coordination and planning across different areas of the department. Further, in the majority of cases the department must also wait for and rely on the results of extensive overseas enquiries, such as cases where a client's identity has not been established.

From 11 May 2005 (when the RPBV legislation was enacted) to 30 June 2009, a total of 59 RPBVs have been granted (46 RPBVs were granted prior to 2008–09; 13 were granted in 2008–09). Of those:

• 32 clients (14 in 2008–09) were subsequently granted permanent visas, of which:
  • one client's RPBV was ceased by a former minister after the client became available for removal. He was subsequently found not to be fit for travel and was granted a permanent visa
  • two clients were granted permanent visas after voluntarily departing Australia
• three clients were subsequently granted temporary visas (one granted in 2008–09). The department is continuing efforts to resolve the status of these clients
• one further client also had his visa ceased by a former minister as he had become available for removal. The client sought an injunction preventing his removal and was still in Australian at the end of June 2009
• a total of 23 clients remain on an RPBV, 13 of whom were granted an RPBV in 2008–09.