Detention debt for immigration detainees abolished
The Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, today welcomed the passage of the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Bill 2009 through the Senate.
The Bill abolishes the ineffective system of imposing charges on immigration detainees and waives all existing debts for current and former detainees with the exception of convicted people smugglers and illegal foreign fishers who will still be liable for their costs of detention and removal. The liability for costs associated with the removal or deportation of unlawful non-citizens will also remain unchanged.
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.
'The detention debt regime has proved to be totally ineffective,' Senator Evans said.
'Less than three per cent of the detention debt invoiced since 2004-05 has been recovered, with the vast majority of debts incurred under this system either waived or written off because they are uneconomical to pursue.'
In addition, 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 Refugees Convention, the debt is written off and no further action is taken to recover it.
'The detention debt regime has not acted as any form of deterrent nor has it minimised the costs of immigration detention to the Australian community,' Senator Evans said.
For the 2008-09 financial year, a total of $21 million in immigration detention debt was raised, of which $19.6 million was written off as uneconomical to pursue and $400 000 was waived. Receipts from the repayment of detention debts was $700 000 while it cost nearly $1 million to administer the debts.
During 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, $54.3 million in detention debt was raised of which $1.8 million was recovered. A total of $48.2 million was written off while $4 million was waived.
'These figures are clear evidence that the detention debt scheme currently costs the taxpayer more than is returned in receipts,' Senator Evans said.
'This Bill strikes an appropriate balance by abolishing an ineffective system that unfairly penalises detainees with enormous debt burdens, while ensuring that liability for detention costs remains a deterrent for illegal foreign fishers and convicted people smugglers.
'The Government considers that fair and effective immigration detention policies and strong border security measures are not incompatible.'
URL: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au
/media/media-releases/2009/ce09082.htm
Last update: 08 September 2009 at 15:02 AEST