Passports Amendment Act 1984 (Cth)
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BE IT ENACTED by the Queen, and the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:
(a) by inserting after the definition of “Administrator” in sub-section (1) the following definitions:
“‘approved officer’ means the person who is the approved officer for the purposes of this Act by virtue of an appointment under section 6ab;
“‘approved representative’ means a person holding, or performing the duties of, any of the following offices (being an office of Australia) in a country or place outside Australia:
(a) Ambassador;
(b) High Commissioner;
(c) Minister;
(d) Head of a Mission;
(e) Consul-General; or
(f) Consul;
“‘approved senior officer’ means the person who is the approved senior officer for the purposes of this Act by virtue of an appointment under section 6aa;”;
(b) by omitting from sub-section (1) the definitions of “British passport” and “British subject”;
(c) by omitting from sub-section (1) the definition of “passport” and substituting the following definition:
“ ‘prescribed minor’ means a person who has not attained the age of 18 years, not being a person who is, or has been, married;”;
and
(d) by adding at the end thereof the following sub-sections:
“(3) Where regulations empower the Minister or officers to issue certificates of identity or other documents of identity for travel purposes, a reference in section 6a, 8 (other than paragraph (1a) (a)), 8a, 9, 9a (other than paragraph (f)), 9b (other than paragraph (f)), 9c (other than paragraph (2) (a)), 10, 11a or 12 to an Australian passport, to a passport granted in pursuance of this Act or to a passport shall be read as including a reference to a certificate of identity or other document of identity issued by virtue of those regulations.
“(4) A reference in paragraph 9a (f) or 9b (f) to a passport issued by or on behalf of the government of a foreign country shall be read as including a reference to a document of identity issued by or on behalf of the government of a foreign country for travel purposes (whether or not also issued for any other purpose).
“(5) For the purposes of this Act, where an overseas custody order within the meaning of Part VII of the
Family Law Act 1975 is registered in a court in Australia in accordance with regulations under section 68 of that Act, that order shall be deemed to be an order of that court made in pursuance of that Act.”.
3. Section 6 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sections are substituted:
“6. (1) The Minister may, either generally or as otherwise provided by the instrument of delegation, by writing signed by him, delegate to the Administrator of an external Territory all or any of his powers under this Act, other than this power of delegation.
“(2) A power so delegated to the Administrator of an external Territory may be exercised by the Administrator only in or in relation to that Territory.
“(3) A power so delegated, when exercised by the delegate, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been exercised by the Minister.
“(4) A delegation under this section does not prevent the exercise of a power by the Minister, including the exercise of a power in or in relation to any external Territory.
“6aa. The Minister may, by writing signed by him, appoint the officer of the Department for the time being holding, or performing the duties of, a specified office to be the approved senior officer for the purposes of this Act.
“6ab. The Minister may, by writing signed by him, appoint the officer of the Department for the time being holding, or performing the duties of, a specified office to be the approved officer for the purposes of this Act.”.
(a) by omitting from sub-section (1) “and to British subjects who are not Australian citizens”; and
(b) by adding at the end thereof the following sub-sections:
“(4) The Minister is not entitled to refuse, or to direct an authorized officer to refuse, to issue an Australian passport except—
(a) in circumstances in which, under section 7a, 7b
, 7c, or 7d, an authorized officer is prohibited from issuing a passport unless directed otherwise by the Minister or by a person specified for the purpose in the relevant section; or(b) in circumstances where the Minister may notify an authorized officer under sub-section 7e (1) that an Australian passport is not to be issued.
“(5) Where the Minister or an authorized officer makes a decision under sub-section (1) refusing to issue a passport, the Minister or an authorized officer shall cause to be served, either personally or by post, on the applicant for the passport a notice in writing setting out that decision and the reasons for that decision.”.
(a) by omitting sub-section (1) and substituting the following sub-section:
“(1) Subject to sub-sections (2), (5) and (7), an authorized officer shall not, unless otherwise directed by the Minister, issue an Australian passport to a prescribed minor.”;
(b) by omitting from sub-section (2) all the words before paragraph (a) and substituting the following:
“(2) An authorized officer may, unless otherwise directed by the Minister, issue an Australian passport to an Australian citizen who is a prescribed minor if—”;
(c) by omitting from paragraphs (2) (a), (b) and (c) “applicant” (wherever occurring) and substituting “minor”; and
(d) by adding at the end thereof the following sub-sections:
“(3) Where—
(a) an application has been made for the issue of an Australian passport to an Australian citizen who is a prescribed minor; and
(b) the applicant for the passport has furnished to an authorized officer a written statement declaring that special circumstances exist by reason of which the passport should be issued and setting out particulars of those circumstances,
the authorized officer shall refer the application and statement to the approved senior officer.
“(4) Where an application for the issue of an Australian passport is referred to the approved senior officer under sub-section (3), the approved senior officer shall, unless he refers the application to the Minister—
(a) consider the application having regard to any guidelines issued under sub-section (6); and
(b) if he is satisfied that special circumstances exist by reason of which the passport should be issued, give an authorized officer written notice that he is so satisfied.
“(5) Where the approved senior officer gives an authorized officer a notice under paragraph (4) (b) in relation to an application for the issue of a passport to a prescribed minor, the authorized officer shall, unless otherwise directed by the Minister, issue a passport to that minor.
“(6) The Minister may, by instrument in writing, issue guidelines relating to the consideration of applications under paragraph (4) (a).
“(7) Where an authorized officer is satisfied that an Australian passport issued to a prescribed minor has been lost, stolen or destroyed, the officer may issue an Australian passport to that minor, not being a passport the period of validity of which extends beyond the period of validity of the first-mentioned passport.”.
(a) by inserting in sub-section (1) “or an approved representative” after “Minister”;
(b) by inserting in sub-section (1) “the authorized officer has reason to believe that” after “if”; and
(c) by inserting in sub-section (2) “or an approved representative” after “Minister”.
“(1) Where the Minister—
(a) has formed an opinion that, if an Australian passport were issued to a person, that person would be likely to engage in conduct that—
(i) might prejudice the security of Australia or of a foreign country;
(ii) might endanger the health or physical safety of other persons, whether in Australia or in a foreign country; or
(iii) might interfere with the rights and freedoms of other persons, as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whether in Australia or in a foreign country; and
(b) considers that, in the circumstances, action to prevent that person engaging in that conduct should be taken by way of not issuing an Australian passport to that person,
the Minister may notify an authorized officer or authorized officers that, by virtue of this section, an Australian passport is not to be issued to that person.
“(1a) An authorized officer shall not issue an Australian passport to a person if the Minister has notified him under sub-section (1) that an Australian passport is not to be issued to that person.”.
(a) by omitting sub-section (1) and substituting the following sub-section:
“(1)An Australian passport, whether in the possession or custody of the person to whom it was issued or otherwise, may be cancelled by the Minister, an approved representative or the approved senior officer, and a passport on being cancelled under this sub-section becomes void.”;
(b) by omitting from sub-section (1a) “, or an officer authorized by the Minister to act under this section,” and substituting “, an approved representative or the approved senior officer”;
(c) by omitting from paragraph (1a) (a) “or the officer” and substituting “, the approved representative or the approved senior officer”;
(d) by inserting in paragraph (1a) (a) “(whether or not they did exist at that time)” after “issued”;
(e) by omitting from paragraph (1a) (b) “or the officer” and substituting “, the approved representative or the approved senior officer”;
(f) by inserting after sub-section (1a) the following sub-sections:
“(1b) Without limiting the generality of sub-section (1), where the Minister—
(a) has formed an opinion that a person to whom an Australian passport has been issued is likely to engage in conduct that—
(i) might prejudice the security of Australia or of a foreign country;
(ii) might endanger the health or physical safety of other persons, whether in Australia or in a foreign country; or
(iii) might interfere with the rights and freedoms of other persons, as set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whether in Australia or in a foreign country; and
(b) considers that, in the circumstances, action to prevent that person engaging in that conduct should be taken by way of cancelling that passport,
the Minister may cancel that passport.
“(1c) A person who has in his possession or under his control an Australian passport that has been cancelled under sub-section (1) shall, on demand by an officer, forthwith deliver up the passport to the officer.
Penalty: $2,000 or imprisonment for 1 year.
“(1d) An Australian passport issued to a person may be cancelled by an authorized officer when the officer issues another passport to that person.”;
(g) by omitting from sub-section (2) “, or by an officer authorized in that behalf by the Minister” and substituting “, or an approved representative or the approved senior officer”; and
(h) by omitting from sub-section (4) “officer” and substituting “approved representative or by the approved senior officer”.
(a) by omitting sub-section (1) and substituting the following sub-sections:
“(1) In this sub-section, ‘prescribed document’ means—
(a) a passport that has been obtained, or is reasonably suspected by an officer of having been obtained, by means of a false or misleading statement; or
(b) a passport or other document that has been used, or is reasonably suspected by an officer of having been used, in, or in connection with, the commission of an offence against this Act or the regulations.
“(1a) A person who has in his possession or under his control a prescribed document shall, on demand by an officer, forthwith deliver up the passport or document to the officer.
Penalty: $2,000 or imprisonment for 1 year, or both.”; and
(b) by inserting in sub-section (4) “, an approved representative or the approved senior officer” after “Minister”.
(a) by omitting sub-section (1) and substituting the following sub-section:
“(1) Subject to sub-section (2), an offence against this Act (other than an offence against sub-section 8 (1c) or (3), section 8a or sub-section 9 (1a), (2) or (3)) is an indictable offence.”; and
(b) by inserting in sub-section (2) “indictable” before “offence”.
“11a. (1) In this section—
‘decision’ has the same meaning as it has in the
Administrative Appeals Tribunal Act 1975; ‘Ministerial decision’ means a decision by the Minister, being—
(a) a decision under sub-section 7 (1) to issue a passport;
(b) a decision under sub-section 7 (1) refusing to issue a passport;
(c) a direction under sub-section 7 (3);
(d) a direction under sub-section 7a (1);
(e) a direction under sub-section 7a (2);
(f) a direction under sub-section 7a (5);
(g) a direction under section 7b;
(h) a direction under sub-section 7c (2);
(j) a decision for the purposes of paragraph 7e (1) (a);
(k) a decision for the purposes of paragraph 7e (1) (b);
(m) a decision under sub-section 8 (1) to cancel a passport;
(n) a decision under sub-section 8 (1a) to cancel a passport;
(p) a decision for the purposes of paragraph 8 (1b) (a);
(q) a decision for the purposes of paragraph 8 (1b) (b);
(r) a decision under sub-section 8 (2) to cancel the renewal or endorsement of a passport;
(s) a direction under sub-section 9 (4);
(t) a decision under sub-section (2) of this section; or
(u) a decision under sub-section (4) of this section;
‘reviewable decision’ means—
(a) a decision by an approved representative, being—
(i) a direction under sub-section 7c (2);
(ii) a decision under sub-section 8 (1) to cancel a passport;
(iii) a decision under sub-section 8 (1a) to cancel a passport;
(iv) a decision under sub-section 8 (2) to cancel the renewal or endorsement of a passport; or
(v) a direction under sub-section 9 (4);
(b) a decision by the approved senior officer, being—
(i) a decision for the purposes of sub-section 7a (4);
(ii) a direction under section 7b;
(iii) a decision under sub-section 8 (1) to cancel a passport;
(iv) a decision under sub-section 8 (1a) to cancel a passport;
(v) a decision under sub-section 8 (2) to cancel the renewal or endorsement of a passport; or
(vi) a direction under sub-section 9 (4);
(c) a direction by the approved officer under section 7b;
(d) a decision by an authorized officer, being—
(i) a decision under sub-section 7 (1) to issue a passport;
(ii) a decision under sub-section 7 (1) refusing to issue a passport;
(iii) a decision for the purposes of section 7a;
(iv) a decision for the purposes of section 7b;
(v) a decision for the purposes of section 7c;
(vi) a decision for the purposes of section 7d;
(vii) a decision under sub-section 8 (1d) to cancel a passport; or
(viii) a decision for the purposes of sub-section 9 (1); or
(e) a decision by an officer, being—
(i) a decision for the purposes of sub-section 8 (1c); or
(ii) a decision for the purposes of sub-section 9 (1a)
.
“(2) Where a reviewable decision is made, a person affected by the decision who is dissatisfied with the decision may, within the period of 28 days after the day on which the decision first comes to the notice of the person, or within such further period as the Minister (either before or after the expiration of that period) allows, make a written application to the Minister for the review of the decision by the Minister.
“(3) There shall be set out in the application under sub-section (2) the reasons for making the application.
“(4) Upon the receipt of an application under sub-section (2) for the review of a reviewable decision, the Minister shall review that decision and shall make a decision—
(a) affirming the decision under review;
(b) varying the decision under review; or
(c) setting aside the decision under review and making a decision in substitution for the decision so set aside.
“(5) Application may be made to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of a Ministerial decision.
“(6) Where the Minister makes a Ministerial decision for the purposes of paragraph 7e (1) (b) or 8 (1b) (b) in the making of which the determining factors were matters relating to relations between Australia and a foreign country or relations between Australia and foreign countries, the Minister may issue a certificate signed by him that that decision involved questions of international relations.
“(7) Notwithstanding section 43 of
the
(a) affirming the decision under review; or
(b) remitting the decision under review to the Minister for his reconsideration in accordance with recommendations of the Tribunal.
“(8) If an application is made for the review (whether by the Minister or the Administrative Appeals Tribunal) of a decision for the purposes of sub-section 9 (1), the document to which the decision relates shall continue to be a prescribed document for the purposes of sub-section 9 (2) unless and until that decision is set aside.
“(9) Where the Minister makes a decision under sub-section (4), the Minister shall give written notice of that decision to—
(a) the person, or each person, to whom written notice of the reviewable decision to which the decision of the Minister or his delegate relates was given; and
(b) the person who made the application for the review of that reviewable decision.
“ 11b.
(1) Where the Minister makes a Ministerial decision within the meaning of section
11a and gives to the person or
persons whose interests are affected by the decision notice in writing of the
making of the decision, that notice shall include a statement to the effect
that, subject to the
“(2) Where a reviewable decision within the meaning of section 11a is made and notice of the making of the decision is given to the person or persons whose interests are affected by the decision, that notice shall include a statement to the effect that—
(a) a person affected by the decision may, if he is dissatisfied with the decision, seek review of the decision by the Minister in accordance with sub-section 11a (2); and
(b) upon that review may, if he is dissatisfied with that decision, make application to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for review of that decision.
“(3) Any failure to comply with the requirements of sub-section (1) or (2) in relation to a decision does not affect the validity of the decision.
“11c. (1) The Minister may, either generally or otherwise as provided in the instrument of delegation, by writing signed by him, delegate to an officer of the Department his powers under section 11a.
“(2) A power so delegated, when exercised by the delegate, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been exercised by the Minister.
“(3) A delegation under this section does not prevent the exercise of a power by the Minister.”.
(a) by omitting from paragraph (a) “, or officers authorized in that behalf by the Minister,” and substituting “or authorized officers”;
(b) by omitting paragraph (b) and substituting the following paragraph:
“(b) for empowering the Minister or authorized officers to endorse Australian passports;”;
(c) by omitting from paragraph (e) “$100” and substituting “$1,000”; and
(d) by adding at the end thereof the following sub-section:
“(2) Without limiting the generality of paragraph (1) (b), the power to make regulations for the purpose specified in that paragraph extends to the power to make regulations—
(a) empowering the Minister or an authorized officer to endorse an Australian passport with particulars of a prescribed minor who is likely to travel with the person to whom the passport is issued; and
(b) prescribing the circumstances in which, and the conditions under which, the power referred to in paragraph (a) may be exercised by an authorized officer.”.
AMENDMENTS RELATING TO PENALTIES
Provision | Amendment |
Sub-section 8 (3).............. |
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Section 8a....................... |
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Sub-section 9 (2).............. |
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Sub-section 9 (3).............. |
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Section 9a....................... |
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Section 9b....................... |
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Sub-section 9c................. |
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Sub-section 10 (2)............ |
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MINOR AMENDMENTS
Provision | Amendment |
Sub-section 5 (1), | |
| Omit “of Foreign Affairs”. |
Paragraph 7 (1) (a)........... |
|
Paragraph 7c (1) (c)......... |
|
Paragraph 8a (a).............. |
|
Paragraph 9a (f)............... |
|
Paragraph 9b (f)............... |
|
Paragraph 10 (2) (a)......... | Omit “a visé ,”. |
Paragraph 10 (2) (b)......... | Omit “a visé ,”. |
1. No. 15, 1938, as amended, For previous amendments, see No. 85, 1948; No. 93, 1966; No. 216, 1973; No. 91, 1976; Nos. 103 and 155, 1979; and No. 70, 1980.
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