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Citizenship Of Australia
The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is an Australian Government department. In 2004, the then Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) had an annual operating budget of AUD$700 million. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship is responsible for:
immigration arrangements
border control
citizenship
ethnic affairs
multicultural affairs
DIMA and its predecessors were the centre of controversy from 2001 because it was primarily these departments that implemented the Australian governments policies of mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals and the Pacific Solution. The Department was also accused of mistreating asylum seekers at Australian immigration detention facilities.
Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau, a division of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has several publications for Australia dealing with multi-faith issues and A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services covers oaths, Death, Gender Roles and Family, Physical Contact and sensitivities (like giving blood samples), Religious Practices and Policing and other topics covering twelve faith-traditions, (in review as of 12/2/2006 but the 2nd Edition is available. Other publications cover other topics.
Migration program
To be accepted into Australia under the migration program a person must be a skilled migrant or sponsored by a family member who is "an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen aged 18 years or over who lives in Australia".A third class covers special eligibility migrants which includes Australians returning to Australia who had to give up citizenship to live overseas. DIAC states that the migration program for 2004-05 has 120,000 places available for migrants, with a strong focus on attracting skilled people and people who agree to live in regional areas of Australia. 42,000 places were allocated to the family stream.
On April 13, 2005, Australia announced that it will take an extra 20,000 skilled migrants in 2005-06 to help meet labour force needs. Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said that between 130,000 and 140,000 non-humanitarian migrants would be taken, with a skilled migrant component of 97,500.
Some in Australia have expressed concern that skilled migration is being used as a solution to the current shortage of skilled labour in Australia, as opposed to training Australian workers. During the 2006 budget "right of reply" on 12 May, 2006, Opposition Australian Labor Party leader Kim Beazley stated that under a Labor government, foreign apprentices would be banned from seeking work in Australia.
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigrants to Australia are those who:enter Australia without authority; or overstay visas, work without appropriate approval or have their visas cancelled.
The Migration Act 1958 requires that all non-Australian citizens who are unlawfully in Australia must be detained and, if they are not given permission to remain in Australia, must be deported as soon as practical. In 1992 mandatory detention for illegal immigrants was introduced, and has been maintained by successive governments. In 2001 the Australian migration zone was reduced by excising many offshore islands which had been used by unauthorised arrivals to seek entry to Australia, particularly those guided by people smugglers.
DIAC statistics show that the most common nationalities of people detained as illegal immigrants since 2000 are: Afghan, Iraqi, Iranian, Chinese, Indonesian, Sri Lankan, Palestinian, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and Bangladeshi. However, the single largest group of illegals in Australia are British nationals who have overstayed their visas.As of 31 December 2005, DIMA (as it then was known) estimated the total number of visa overstayers in Australia at just under 46,400, a figure which has been reduced by around 10,000 each year since December 2003
Australian citizens enjoy the following rights (subject to certain exceptions):
entitlement to an Australian passport and to Australian consular protection overseas
immunity from deportation
entitlement to vote and stand for public office (dual citizens cannot stand for office in the Federal Parliament unless they have taken all reasonable steps to renounce their foreign citizenship. Most states do allow dual citizens to stand for State Parliaments)
entitlement to leave Australia and return at any time without requiring a resident return visa
entitlement to register overseas born children as Australian citizens by descent (subject to some additional criteria)
entitlement to seek employment by the Federal (Commonwealth) Government, where citizenship is normally required.
The following responsibilities are expected of Australian citizens:
obey the law
enrol to vote, and vote at all elections (unless there is a reasonable excuse such as a religious objection or illness on polling day)
serve on a jury, if called upon
defend Australia, should the need arise.
Australian citizenship was acquired on this date by British subjects falling into the following categories:
those born or naturalised in Australia
those born in New Guinea
those born overseas to an Australian father provided they had entered Australia with permanent entry permits on or before 26 January 1949
those ordinarily resident in Australia for the 5 years preceding 26 January 1949
women who were married to Australian men and had entered Australia with permanent entry permits before 26 January 1949
It was possible to acquire Australian citizenship under these provisions even if one also obtained the nationality of another Commonwealth country created at the same time, or if one also had a foreign citizenship.
Ex-Citizen Visa
A person who ceases to be an Australian citizen while physically inside the migration zone of Australia automatically receives an ex-citizen visa under section 35 of the Migration Act 1958
This visa ceases to have effect as soon as the person leaves Australia. Should the former citizen wish to return as a resident, a Resident Return Visa or other permanent visa is required.
An ex-citizen visa may be cancelled on character grounds and the former citizen removed from Australia. This is likely where citizenship has been revoked under section 21 of the Act.
With effect from 4 April 2002, there are no restrictions (under Australian law) on Australians holding the citizenship of another country.
Prior to 4 April 2002, it was still possible for Australians in some circumstances to hold dual citizenship, including:
those born in Australia who automatically acquired another citizenship at birth;
migrants naturalising in Australia, provided their former country did not revoke their citizenship;
children born overseas to Australian parents who automatically acquired the citizenship of their country of birth (eg the U.S. or Canada) as well as Australian citizenship by descent
Holding a foreign passport did not in itself cause loss of Australian citizenship.
immigration arrangements
border control
citizenship
ethnic affairs
multicultural affairs
DIMA and its predecessors were the centre of controversy from 2001 because it was primarily these departments that implemented the Australian governments policies of mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals and the Pacific Solution. The Department was also accused of mistreating asylum seekers at Australian immigration detention facilities.
Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau, a division of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship has several publications for Australia dealing with multi-faith issues and A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services covers oaths, Death, Gender Roles and Family, Physical Contact and sensitivities (like giving blood samples), Religious Practices and Policing and other topics covering twelve faith-traditions, (in review as of 12/2/2006 but the 2nd Edition is available. Other publications cover other topics.
Migration program
To be accepted into Australia under the migration program a person must be a skilled migrant or sponsored by a family member who is "an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen aged 18 years or over who lives in Australia".A third class covers special eligibility migrants which includes Australians returning to Australia who had to give up citizenship to live overseas. DIAC states that the migration program for 2004-05 has 120,000 places available for migrants, with a strong focus on attracting skilled people and people who agree to live in regional areas of Australia. 42,000 places were allocated to the family stream.
On April 13, 2005, Australia announced that it will take an extra 20,000 skilled migrants in 2005-06 to help meet labour force needs. Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone said that between 130,000 and 140,000 non-humanitarian migrants would be taken, with a skilled migrant component of 97,500.
Some in Australia have expressed concern that skilled migration is being used as a solution to the current shortage of skilled labour in Australia, as opposed to training Australian workers. During the 2006 budget "right of reply" on 12 May, 2006, Opposition Australian Labor Party leader Kim Beazley stated that under a Labor government, foreign apprentices would be banned from seeking work in Australia.
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigrants to Australia are those who:enter Australia without authority; or overstay visas, work without appropriate approval or have their visas cancelled.
The Migration Act 1958 requires that all non-Australian citizens who are unlawfully in Australia must be detained and, if they are not given permission to remain in Australia, must be deported as soon as practical. In 1992 mandatory detention for illegal immigrants was introduced, and has been maintained by successive governments. In 2001 the Australian migration zone was reduced by excising many offshore islands which had been used by unauthorised arrivals to seek entry to Australia, particularly those guided by people smugglers.
DIAC statistics show that the most common nationalities of people detained as illegal immigrants since 2000 are: Afghan, Iraqi, Iranian, Chinese, Indonesian, Sri Lankan, Palestinian, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and Bangladeshi. However, the single largest group of illegals in Australia are British nationals who have overstayed their visas.As of 31 December 2005, DIMA (as it then was known) estimated the total number of visa overstayers in Australia at just under 46,400, a figure which has been reduced by around 10,000 each year since December 2003
Australian citizens enjoy the following rights (subject to certain exceptions):
entitlement to an Australian passport and to Australian consular protection overseas
immunity from deportation
entitlement to vote and stand for public office (dual citizens cannot stand for office in the Federal Parliament unless they have taken all reasonable steps to renounce their foreign citizenship. Most states do allow dual citizens to stand for State Parliaments)
entitlement to leave Australia and return at any time without requiring a resident return visa
entitlement to register overseas born children as Australian citizens by descent (subject to some additional criteria)
entitlement to seek employment by the Federal (Commonwealth) Government, where citizenship is normally required.
The following responsibilities are expected of Australian citizens:
obey the law
enrol to vote, and vote at all elections (unless there is a reasonable excuse such as a religious objection or illness on polling day)
serve on a jury, if called upon
defend Australia, should the need arise.
Australian citizenship was acquired on this date by British subjects falling into the following categories:
those born or naturalised in Australia
those born in New Guinea
those born overseas to an Australian father provided they had entered Australia with permanent entry permits on or before 26 January 1949
those ordinarily resident in Australia for the 5 years preceding 26 January 1949
women who were married to Australian men and had entered Australia with permanent entry permits before 26 January 1949
It was possible to acquire Australian citizenship under these provisions even if one also obtained the nationality of another Commonwealth country created at the same time, or if one also had a foreign citizenship.
Ex-Citizen Visa
A person who ceases to be an Australian citizen while physically inside the migration zone of Australia automatically receives an ex-citizen visa under section 35 of the Migration Act 1958
This visa ceases to have effect as soon as the person leaves Australia. Should the former citizen wish to return as a resident, a Resident Return Visa or other permanent visa is required.
An ex-citizen visa may be cancelled on character grounds and the former citizen removed from Australia. This is likely where citizenship has been revoked under section 21 of the Act.
With effect from 4 April 2002, there are no restrictions (under Australian law) on Australians holding the citizenship of another country.
Prior to 4 April 2002, it was still possible for Australians in some circumstances to hold dual citizenship, including:
those born in Australia who automatically acquired another citizenship at birth;
migrants naturalising in Australia, provided their former country did not revoke their citizenship;
children born overseas to Australian parents who automatically acquired the citizenship of their country of birth (eg the U.S. or Canada) as well as Australian citizenship by descent
Holding a foreign passport did not in itself cause loss of Australian citizenship.
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