EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Statutory Rules No. 314 of 1987
Migration Regulations (Amendment)
Issued by the authority of the Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs
Section 67 of the Migration Act 1958 (the Act), so far as is relevant, prescribes that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
As a result of amendments to the Act by the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1987 consequential amendments were made to the Migration Regulations. The amendments amend the Regulations as follows:
• As a consequence of the removal of the regulation making power to make provision for the charging of fees in respect of return endorsements in the Act the regulation imposing such a fee for return endorsements was deleted and the reference to “return endorsement” in the provision providing for a refund where a fee for a return endorsement has been charged by mistake was removed. Since 1 January 1987, return endorsements have been replaced by resident return visas. Accordingly, the provisions relating to return endorsements are no longer required.
• The citation of the Social Services Act 1947-1958 was changed to Social Security Act 1947.
• References to “maintenance guarantees” and “maintenance guarantee” were omitted and “assurances of support” and “assurance of support” substituted respectively. Maintenance guarantees were undertakings given by sponsors of migrants that they would provide support on his or her arrival in Australia. They have been known administratively as “assurances of support” since 1981. A deeming provision was included which deems “maintenance guarantees” (however described) entered into before the Regulations came into effect to be considered as “assurances of support”. Corresponding changes were made inserting the term “support” in place of “maintenance” consistent with the new title “assurance of support”.
• The regulation providing for the two dollar maximum fee chargeable by migration agents has been repealed.
• Formal amendments removed sex-specific language from the Regulations.
Details of the regulations are as follows:
• Regulation 1 provided for the commencement of the amendments to the Migration Regulations to come into operation on 1 January 1988;
• Regulation 2 amends the heading to Part IV of the Migration Regulations by omitting the heading “PART IV - MAINTENANCE GUARANTEES” and substituting the heading “PART IV - assurances of support”.
• Regulation 3 amended Regulation 20 of the Migration Regulations by omitting references to “maintenance” wherever occurring and substituting “support” and by amending the reference to Social Services Act 1947-58 and substituting Social Security Act 1947.
Regulations 4 and 5 amended Regulations 21 and 22 of the Migration Regulations. They omitted references to “maintenance guarantee”, “maintenance guarantees” and “maintain” and substituted “assurance of support” and “assurances of support” and “support” respectively wherever occurring and removed sex-specific terminology.
Regulation 6 amended Regulation 23 of the Migration Regulations so that the provisions of Regulation 22 concerning the effect of assurances of support apply to existing maintenance guarantees as if they were assurances of support.
Regulation 7 repealed Regulation 29 of the Migration Regulations which provided for a maximum $2 fee to be charged by migration agents in relation to services rendered.
Regulation 8 repealed Regulation 29B of the Migration Regulations which imposed a fee on lodgement of an application for the grant of a return endorsement.
Regulation 9 amended Regulation 29E of the Migration Regulations which provides for a refund where a fee has been charged by mistake by removing the category of return endorsement applications.
Regulation 10 amended Regulation 30 of the Migration Regulations and inserts “Local Government” in view of the administrative re-organisation of 24 July 1987.
Regulation 11 amended the Regulations as set out in the Schedule. The Schedule set out amendments to remove sex-specific language which affected: subregulation 5(2); paragraph 8(a), regulation 9, regulation 10, subregulations 11(2) and 11(4); subregulation 13(2); paragraphs 14(a) and 14(c); subregulation 18(1), paragraph 24(2)(d); subregulation 24(4); regulation 29; subregulation 29A(1B); paragraph 29A(2c) (a); paragraph 29AA(5)(b); subparagraph 29AA(5)(c)(i) ; paragraph 29D(c); regulation 31 and Form 1 in the Schedule of the Migration Regulations.
Regulation 12 provided for transitional arrangements ensuring that a maintenance guarantee given or continued in force before the commencement of these regulations will continue in force as if it were an assurance of support given under Part IV of the Migration Regulations as amended by these Regulations.