Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Historical context to migration
- 2 Immigration control: an overview
- 3 Basic migration legislation and policy
- 4 The visa system and application procedures
- 5 Family and interdependency migration and other Australia-based visas
- 6 Business and investment visas
- 7 Skill-based visas
- 8 Temporary visas
- 9 Miscellaneous visas
- 10 Common visa requirements
- 11 Compliance: unlawful non-citizens, removal and deportation
- 12 History of the refugees convention and definitional framework
- 13 Refugee and humanitarian visas: the statutory structure
- 14 Convention grounds
- 15 Persecution
- 16 Well-founded fear of persecution
- 17 Limits on protection of refugees – cessation, exclusion exceptions and protection by another country
- 18 Time for a fundamental re-think: need as the criterion for assistance
- 19 The determination and review process for migration and refugee decisions
- Index
11 - Compliance: unlawful non-citizens, removal and deportation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Historical context to migration
- 2 Immigration control: an overview
- 3 Basic migration legislation and policy
- 4 The visa system and application procedures
- 5 Family and interdependency migration and other Australia-based visas
- 6 Business and investment visas
- 7 Skill-based visas
- 8 Temporary visas
- 9 Miscellaneous visas
- 10 Common visa requirements
- 11 Compliance: unlawful non-citizens, removal and deportation
- 12 History of the refugees convention and definitional framework
- 13 Refugee and humanitarian visas: the statutory structure
- 14 Convention grounds
- 15 Persecution
- 16 Well-founded fear of persecution
- 17 Limits on protection of refugees – cessation, exclusion exceptions and protection by another country
- 18 Time for a fundamental re-think: need as the criterion for assistance
- 19 The determination and review process for migration and refugee decisions
- Index
Summary
Unlawful non-citizens: an overview
A person in Australia who is not a citizen and does not have a current visa is an unlawful non-citizen. This is contrasted with a lawful non-citizen, which is defined as a person in the migration zone who holds a visa that is in effect. It is not an offence to become an unlawful non-citizen, however, such people face mandatory detention, removal from Australia and the costs of enforcement action.
The Australian government is becoming increasingly vigilant in locating unlawful non-citizens. In the 2003–2004 financial year, it was estimated that the Department of Migration would locate approximately 22 500 unlawful non-citizens. The Australia-wide Wide Migration Group reported:
This success is due to increasingly effective field operations by compliance officers and an increase in the number of unlawful non-citizens voluntarily approaching the department.
This has been helped by a number of new initiatives, including Employer Awareness information sessions, an employers' work rights checking line and facilities for employers to check the work rights of prospective employees. These initiatives make it increasingly difficult for non-citizens with no authority to work in Australia to get jobs to which they are not entitled.
People who approach DIMIA voluntarily to minimise the consequences of their unlawful stay now account for about fifty-seven percent of unlawfuls located. The increase in voluntary approaches is a clear sign that DIMIA's messages and the public information strategy are working well.
The Australian community should not have to tolerate people working or living illegally in Australia. Every day the department receives information from community sources regarding the location of unlawful non-citizens and of people with no work rights working unlawfully and taking jobs away from the unemployed.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Migration and Refugee LawPrinciples and Practice in Australia, pp. 159 - 169Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008