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2013-2014-2015
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Migration Amendment (Mandatory Reporting) Bill 2015
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
and
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Circulated by authority of
Hon Richard Marles MP
Migration Amendment (Mandatory Reporting) Bill 2015
OUTLINE
The Bill aims to enhance the safety of children in immigration detention by mandating the
reporting of child abuse in onshore and offshore immigration detention facilities.
Specifically, the Bill requires staff and contractors to report any instances of child abuse
they observe to the Australian Border Force Commissioner, who would in turn report the
abuse to the relevant authorities (e.g. AFP, Nauruan Police, state/territory police).
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The bill will have no financial impact.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short title
1. This clause provides for the Bill, when enacted, to be cited as the Migration
Amendment (Mandatory Reporting) Act 2015.
Clause 2 - Commencement
2. This clause provides that clauses 1 to 3 and Schedule 1 commence on the day on
which the Bill receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3 - Schedule(s)
3. This clause is the formal enabling provision for the Schedule to the Bill, providing
that each Act specified in the Schedule is amended in accordance with the
applicable items of the Schedule. This Bill amends the Migration Act 1958.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Migration Act 1958
Item 1 - After Division 14B
4. The amendment requires that an Immigration and Border Protection worker (as
defined in the Australian Border Force Act 2015) who has reasonable grounds to
believe that a minor within a place of detention (as defined in the Migration Act
1958) has suffered, or is suffering, a reportable assault, must notify the Australian
Border Force Commissioner in writing, within 24 hours.
5. An Immigration and Border Protection worker who fails to notify the Commissioner
of a reportable assault, will have committed an offence which will be subject to 60
penalty units.
6. It will not be an offence if the Immigration and Border Protection worker failed to
notify the Commissioner on the basis that they had a reasonable belief that another
person had reported the assault.
7. Subsection (5) has the effect that the amendment does not apply to workers within
an offshore place of detention who are not Australian citizens.
8. The amendment requires that following receipt of a notification of an assault against
a minor, the Commissioner must notify the relevant authority, e.g. Australian
Federal Police, State and Territory Police or police of the country where the
offshore detention facility is located. The Commissioner must also notify the
relevant jurisdictional authority with respect to child safety.
9. The Commissioner will be required to keep a written record of each reported
assault.
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Migration Amendment (Mandatory Reporting) Bill 2015
This bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
Act 2011.
Overview of the bill
The Bill aims to enhance the safety of children in immigration detention by mandating the
reporting of child abuse in onshore and offshore immigration detention facilities.
Specifically, the Bill requires staff and contractors to report any instances of child abuse
they observe to the Australian Border Force Commissioner, who would in turn report the
abuse to the relevant authorities (e.g. AFP, Nauruan Police, state/territory police).
Human rights implications
This Bill engages the right to privacy and reputation through the mandatory requirement to
report any physical or sexual assault against a minor in immigration detention.
This is considered an appropriate and reasonable limitation on rights given the objective of
the Bill is to enhance the safety of children in immigration detention.
The requirement is also consistent with that placed on youth workers, police officers and
medical practitioners who work with minors in other settings, e.g. schools, state and
territory care and juvenile detention.
Conclusion
This bill is compatible with human rights because to the extent that it may limit the right to
privacy and reputation, those limitations are reasonable, necessary and proportionate
given the objective of the Bill is to enhance the safety of children in immigration detention.
Hon Richard Marles MP