Comptroller-General of Customs (Places of Detention) Directions 2015 (Cth)

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA

COMPTROLLER-GENERAL OF CUSTOMS (Places of detention) DIRECTIONS 2015

SUBSECTION 219ZJE(1) OF THE CUSTOMS ACT 1901

I, ROMAN QUAEDVLIEG, Comptroller-General of Customs, under subsection 219ZJE(1) of the Customs Act 1901 (the Customs Act), give the following Directions:

1.    Places of detention

(1) Subject to subitem (2), for the purposes of paragraph 219ZJE(1)(a) of the Customs Act, a person detained under Division 1BA of Part XII of the Customs Act in a designated place must be detained in a room in the designated place that meets the following standards:

(a)     persons inside the room are concealed from the view of persons outside;

(b)     the room is secured against access by persons other than officers of Customs;

(c)     the room has reasonably comfortable ventilation and illumination.

(2)   If a room meeting the standards in (1) is not available in the designated place, the person must be detained:

(a)     if it is convenient and suitable to detain a person in a room that meets the standards in subitem (1) at another place - in that room;

(b)     otherwise - in an Australian Border Force vehicle.

2.    Personal privacy during search

For the purposes of paragraph 219ZJE(1)(b) of the Customs Act, if an officer of Customs conducts a search under section 219ZJD of the Customs Act before taking a person to a place mentioned in item 1, the officer conducting the search must afford the detainee as much personal privacy as the circumstances of the search allow.

These Directions commence on 1 July 2015.

Dated: 18 June 2015

ROMAN QUAEDVLIEG

Comptroller-General of Customs