Please note that the information we provide in this article about general provisions Migration Act is current as of the date of publication, and the DHA regularly updates rules and regulations. Kindly ensure that you check the official updates before making any decisions, or speak with an immigration lawyer for the most up-to-date information, as laws and conditions are subject to change.
This article will discuss sections 269 to 274 of the Migration Act 1958. These sections will discuss the general provisions Migration Act under Part 2: Arrival and Departure of Persons. The topics are the following:
- Securities
- Reports of absences of crews of vessels
- Proof of certain matters
- Migrant centres
- Detention centres
- Issuance of documents by Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner containing information concerning certain persons
General Provisions Migration Act: Securities
Section 269 of the Act provides for the rules as to the taking of securities for compliance with the provisions of this Act or other regulations. It states that an authorised officer may require or take security:
- By deposit of cash, Treasury Bonds, or negotiable instrument, and a memorandum of deposit in the prescribed form, or
- In accordance with an approved form of security.
However, the authorised officer's power to take securities is not absolute. The power to require and take securities in relation to a visa application applies only if:
- the security is for compliance with conditions that will be imposed on the visa in pursuance of, or for the purposes of, this Act or the regulations, if the visa is granted; and
- the officer has indicated those conditions to the applicant.
General Provisions Migration Act: Reports of Absences of Vessel Crews
Section 270 of the Act provides for the guidelines as to the making of reports of absences of vessel crews. It states that the master, owner, charterer or agent of the vessel must make a written report to an officer and indicate the following facts in such report:
- a specified person was a member of the crew on board the vessel at the time of its arrival at that port and is or was absent from the vessel at the time of its departure from that port, and
- whether that member left the vessel at that port with leave or without leave, that report is.
For the purposes of proceedings under or in relation to this Act, this report shall be prima facie evidence of the matters contained therein. However, take the following circumstances into consideration:
- If the report states that the member left the vessel with leave: the member entered Australia, with leave, from the vessel during the vessel's stay at that port and remained in Australia after the vessel left that port.
- If the report states that the member left the vessel without leave: the member entered Australia, without leave, from the vessel during the vessel's stay at that port.
Furthermore, the master of the vessel must also make a written report to an officer stating that a specified person included in the complement of the vessel or a member of the crew, on board the vessel:
- Left the vessel without leave or
- Left the vessel with leave, but has become absent without leave.
General Provisions Migration Act: Proof of Certain Matters
Section 271 of the Act enumerates documents and other pieces of evidence that may be used in migration proceedings:
- Official documents of the Commonwealth or of a State or Territory, and letters and telegrams, or copies of letters and telegrams, and affidavits produced out of official custody and purporting to have been sent or made by an officer;
- Visa holder certificates;
- Reports made by the master, owner, charterer or agent of a vessel to an officer;
- Passenger list or passenger card;
- Notation in a person's passport;
- Certified printout of the relevant movement records of a person entering or leaving Australia;
- Proof of conviction of a crime, photographs, fingerprint records;
- Proof that a person travelling to Australia failed to produce his or her passport or that the passport was not an Australian passport;
- Proof of failure to produce evidence of visa for non-citizens.
General Provisions Migration Act: Migrant and Detention Centres
Section 272 of the Act provides for the establishment of migrant centres. The Minister may authorise the establishment of premises and places for the reception, accommodation, or training of non-citizens. These premises are 'migrant centres'.
Moreover, the Minister must approve the admission of non-citizens to migrant centres in such circumstances, on such terms and conditions, and subject to the payment of such charges.
Additionally, the regulations may make provision for and in relation to the regulation of migrant centres, including:
- provision with respect to the establishment and operation of canteen services in migrant centres,
- the conduct or control of persons in migrant centres and
- the removal of persons from migrant centres.
Section 273 provides for the establishment of detention centres and its maintenance. A detention centre for the detention of persons whose detention is authorised under the Migration Act.
READ: Detention of Deportees and Removees
General Provisions Migration Act: Issuance of Documents
Section 274 of the Act bestows upon the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner the power to issue documents containing information concerning certain persons. The documents may be issued to any of the following:
- a deportee who has not yet been deported;
- a removee who has not yet been removed;
- a person refused of immigration clearance and has not been subsequently cleared.
Additionally, it enumerates the following matters that the document must contain:
- must be in the approved form;
- a photograph of the person concerned (if available);
- a statement of the name and nationality of the person concerned (to the best of the Secretary's or Australian Border Force Commissioner's knowledge)
- other information that the Secretary or Australian Border Force Commissioner deems important.
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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
