Bill to abolish detention debt passes first hurdle
The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, welcomed the passage of the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009 through the House of Representatives today.
'The Bill will be debated in the Senate in August and I urge all Opposition Senators to join the Liberal MPs in the lower house who supported the abolition of an unjust and ineffective regime,' Senator Evans said.
'The Rudd Government is committed to establishing a fairer, more humane and more effective system of immigration detention and this Bill represents the first legislative step of the Government's reforms in this area.'
The Bill abolishes the charges imposed on immigration detainees and waives all existing debts for current and former detainees, but there will be no refunds of debts already paid.
People convicted of people smuggling or illegal foreign fishing will still be liable for their costs of detention and removal, to recognise the seriousness of these offences.
The liability for costs associated with the removal or deportation of unlawful non-citizens will remain unchanged. The Government has no intention of encouraging visitors to Australia to become destitute and then rely on the Australian Government to pay for their return.
The Bill is in line with the unanimous recommendation of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration in December 2008 that the Government repeal the liability of immigration detention costs and waive existing debts.
'Making immigration detainees liable for the costs associated with their detention has not contributed to minimising costs of immigration detention to the Australian community, nor has it acted as any form of deterrent,' Senator Evans said.
Most immigration detention debts are written off because they are uneconomical to pursue. If a person is granted a permanent protection visa or a humanitarian visa, then in keeping with the spirit of Australia's obligations under the UN Convention for Refugees, the is debt written off and no further action is taken to recover it.
During 2006-07 and 2007-08, immigration detention debt raised was $54.3 million of which $1.8 million (or 3.3 per cent) was recovered. A total of $48.2 million was written off by the department as uneconomical to pursue while $4 million was waived.
This financial year, the cost of administering the scheme will exceed the funds recouped. Year to date receipts to 30 April 2009, from repayment of detention debts for the 2008-09 financial year is $477 613 while the cost of administering detention debts for 2008-09 is approximately $709 000.
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/media/media-releases/2009/ce09059.htm
Last update: 25 June 2009 at 14:48 AEST