Migration Amendment Bill 2024

The Australian Human Rights Commission has made a submission to the Parliamentary Committee that is considering the Migration Amendment Bill 2024.

This Bill purports to be a necessary response to the recent High Court decisions in NZYQ v Minister for Immigration and YBFZ v Minister for Immigration. But the proposed law actually goes much further than this, and will potentially impact a much wider cohort of people.

Our submission highlights a number of key concerns with this Bill, including:

•    The provisions extend beyond the scope of the High Court decisions, with removal arrangements potentially impacting a much wider range of vulnerable people who have lived and contributed to Australia for many years;
•    The lack of transparency and accountability measures around third country deportation arrangements;
•    The lack of minimum human rights guarantees as a pre-condition to any third country reception arrangements;
•    A significant expansion of ministerial powers to overturn protection decisions, without sufficient safeguards;
•    Civil liability immunity being granted to shield government from accountability; and 
•    Broad authorisation for the collection and disclosure of personal information, including a person’s criminal history.

This is a Bill that will have a substantial impact on human rights, and should be carefully scrutinised. Providing only three days from the date of the Senate referring the Bill for inquiry until the closure of submissions (and a further four days for the Committee to report) is entirely inadequate.

We recommend that the Bill should not be passed in its current form.