Explanatory Statement
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship
Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Act 2009
Proclamation
Subsection 2(1) of the Migration Amendment (Abolishing Detention Debt) Act 2009 (the Act) provides that Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act commences on a day to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if any of the provisions of Schedule 1 do not commence within six months of the date the Act receives the Royal Assent, then those provisions commence on the first day after the end of that period. The Act received the Royal Assent on 18 September 2009.
The Proclamation fixed 9 November 2009 as the day on which Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act commenced. Subsection 2(1) of the Act provided that the remainder of Schedule 1 to the Act commenced at the same time as Part 1.
Schedule 1 to the Act amends the Migration Act 1958 to remove the liability of a non-citizen who is detained in immigration detention to pay the Commonwealth the costs of their transport between a place where they are detained and another place within Australia, and the daily maintenance amount for each day of their detention. Existing detention debt was extinguished on commencement. Under the amendments, persons convicted of illegal foreign fishing or people smuggling offences will be prospectively liable for the cost of their detention.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.