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2002
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
MIGRATION (VISA APPLICATION) CHARGE
AMENDMENT BILL 2002
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of the
Minister for
Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs,
The Hon. Philip Ruddock
MP)
MIGRATION (VISA APPLICATION) CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL
2002
OUTLINE
Overview
1. The
Migration (Visa Application) Charge Amendment Bill 2002 (“the Bill”)
amends the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Act 1997 (“the VAC
Act”) to provide:
• that the visa application charge limit in
relation to certain visa applications made during the financial year beginning
on 1 July 2002 is $26,745; and
• a mechanism for indexing the new visa
application charge limit.
1. These amendments will only apply to
applications for visas of the following classes:
• Contributory
Parent (Migrant) (Class CA);
• Contributory Parent (Temporary) (Class
UT);
• Contributory Aged Parent (Residence) (Class DG);
and
• Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) (Class UU).
1. This
Bill complements the Migration Legislation Amendment (Contributory Parents
Migration Scheme) Bill 2002 which introduces these four new visa classes for
parents.
2. The amendments in the Bill will ensure that the visa
application charge for the proposed new visa classes does not go beyond the visa
application charge limit specified in the VAC Act.
3. This Bill and the
Migration Legislation Amendment (Contributory Parents Migration Scheme) Bill
2002 are to be considered as a package of Bills.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
STATEMENT
4. The amendments contained in the Bill will have no direct
financial impact.
5. This Bill merely sets a visa application charge
limit for certain visa applications and provides a formula for calculating the
maximum amount of visa application charge for such applications. The actual
amounts of visa application charge payable are set out in the Migration
Regulations 1994 (“the Regulations”). The explanatory
memorandum to the Migration Legislation Amendment (Contributory Parents
Migration Scheme) Bill 2002 addresses the financial impact of the actual
proposed increases in the amount of charge.
MIGRATION (VISA APPLICATION) CHARGE AMENDMENT BILL
2002
NOTES ON INDIVIDUAL CLAUSES
Clause
1 Short title
1. The short title by which this Act may be
cited is the Migration (Visa Application) Charge Amendment Act
2002.
Clause 2 Commencement
2. This clause provides
that this Act commences on the day after it receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3 Schedule(s)
3. This clause provides that each Act
specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the
applicable items in the Schedule concerned. In addition, any other item in a
Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
4. This item inserts new section 3A after section 3 to provide a
definitions provision for the purposes of the Act.
5. New section 3A
defines a “contributory parent visa” to mean a permanent or
temporary visa included in a class of visas under regulations made under the
Migration Act 1958, being a class that has the words “contributory
parent” or “contributory aged parent” in its
title.
6. “Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index” is also
defined in new section 3A of the Act to mean the Contributory Parent Visa
Composite Index, expressed as a percentage, published by the Australian
Government Actuary for a financial year. This amendment is consequential to the
insertion of new section 6 into the Act by item 3 of this Schedule, which
provides for the visa application charge limit to be increased in later
financial years by the Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index.
7. This item makes a minor amendment to subsection 5(1) of the Act,
consequential to the amendment made by item 3 of this Schedule, to provide that
the visa application charge limit set out in subsection 5(1) applies unless the
application is for a contributory parent visa.
8. The note at the end of
subsection 5(1) amends the heading to section 5 to reflect the fact that the
visa application charge limit set out in section 5 now only applies to most
visas, not all visas.
9. This item inserts new section 6 at the end of the Act to introduce a
new visa application charge limit in relation to an application for a
contributory parent visa.
10. New subsection 6(1) provides that the
charge limit in relation to a visa application for a contributory parent visa
made during the financial year beginning on 1 July 2002 is
$26,745.
11. New subsection 6(2) sets out the way in which the charge
limit for a later financial year is to be calculated. It provides that,
depending on the amount of the Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index, the
charge limit for a later financial year is the amount worked out either under
new subsection 6(3) or 6(5).
12. The Contributory Parent Visa Composite
Index is an indexation device designed by the Australian Government Actuary to
ensure that the charge payable in relation to an application for a new
contributory parent visa increases in a way that accurately reflects the
increase in health costs. This new index is necessary because health costs have
been found to increase over time at a rate faster than the Consumer Price Index
(“CPI”).
13. The Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index
will consist of:
• CPI;
• data published each year by the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare which accounts for the nominal growth
in per capita expenditure by the Commonwealth Government in prices
(“Commonwealth Health Expenditure Nominal Growth”); and
• male total average weekly earnings figures
(“MTAWE”).
1. The Australian Government Actuary has worked
out the appropriate proportions of each of the above to be, at
present:
• CPI – 5%;
• Commonwealth Health
Expenditure Nominal Growth – 60%; and
• MTAWE –
35%.
1. The Australian Government Actuary will compile the Contributory
Parent Visa Composite Index each year and the methodology and source data will
be published on their website.
2. The proportions of the inputs to the
Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index will also be reviewed every five years,
and may change to ensure that the Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index
accurately reflects the increase in costs associated with parent migration.
This is important because, for example, a change in the age profile of the
population or in mortality rates could result in the Contributory Parent Visa
Composite Index being less than, or greater than, necessary.
3. New
subsection 6(3) sets out the formula for calculating the amount of the visa
application charge for a later financial year where the Contributory Parent Visa
Composite Index for the later financial year is greater than zero. In broad
terms, this formula increases the previous charge limit by a specified amount,
which takes into account the Contributory Parent Visa Composite
Index.
Example 1
$26,745 x 1 + 5 % = $ 28,
082
100%
If
the charge limit in relation to an application for a contributory parent visa is
$26,745 for the financial year beginning on 1 July 2002 and the Contributory
Parent Visa Composite Index is 5%, the charge limit in relation to an
application for a contributory parent visa for the financial year beginning on 1
July 2003 would be formulated as follows:
4. Under subsection 6(3), “previous charge limit” means
the charge limit for the financial year before the later financial
year.
5. New subsection 6(4) provides for the amount of the visa
application charge limit worked out under new subsection 6(3) to be rounded
where the amount is not a multiple of $5.
6. Under new paragraph
6(4)(a), if the amount exceeds the nearest lower multiple of $5 by $2.50 or
more, the amount is to be rounded up to the nearest higher multiple of $5. In
any other case, new paragraph 6(4)(b) provides that the amount is to be rounded
down to the nearest lower multiple of $5.
The visa application charge limit of $28,082 for the
financial year beginning on 1 July 2003, worked out in accordance with the
formula in subsection 6(3) above, would be rounded to $28,
080.
7. New subsection 6(5) specifies the way in which to
calculate the amount of the visa application charge limit for a later financial
year where the Contributory Parent Visa Composite Index for the later financial
year is zero or less than zero. In these circumstances, the charge limit for
the later financial year is the same as the previous charge limit (as defined in
new subsection 6(3)).