EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Act 2014
Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Commencement Proclamation 2015
Items 4, 11 and 15 of the table in subsection 2(1) of the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Act 2014 (the RALC Act) provide that Division 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 2, Schedule 4, and Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the RALC Act to commence on a single day to be fixed by Proclamation. However, if the provisions do not commence within the period of 6 months beginning on the day the RALC Act receives the Royal Assent, they commence on the day after the end of that period. The RALC Act received the Royal Assent on 15 December 2014.
The purpose of the Proclamation is to fix 18 April 2015 as the day on which Division 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 2, Schedule 4, and Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the RALC Act commence.
The RALC Act amends the Migration Act 1958 (the Migration Act) to amend Australia’s approach to managing asylum seekers. In particular:
- Division 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the RALC Act amends the Migration Act to create a new visa class to be known as a Safe Haven Enterprise visa;
- Schedule 4 to the RALC Act amends the Migration Act to create a new fast track assessment process and remove access to the Refugee Review Tribunal for fast track applicants, who are defined as unauthorised maritime arrivals who entered Australia on or after 13 August 2012 and made a valid application for a protection visa, and other cohorts specified by legislative instrument; and
- Part 2 of Schedule 5 to the RALC Act amends the Migration Act to remove most references relating to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol (the Refugees Convention) from the Migration Act and replace them with a new statutory framework which articulates Australia’s interpretation of its protection obligations under the Refugees Convention.
The Proclamation is a legislative instrument for the purposes of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.