Visa compliance audit uncovers serious flaws in system
An audit of how the Federal Government manages visa compliance was able to find weaknesses in almost all of the programs many areas, which leaves Australia in a vulnerable position to the visitors that have committed or are committing serious crimes.
A review was issued by the Australian National Audit Office late last year and it was able to identify major issues in the organisation. This includes missing records as well as ‘extensive shortcomings.
It was stated in the report that the challenges that face the Department of Immigration and Border Protection should not be in any way underestimated, ”given the extent of the reforms and the longstanding nature of the problems.”
”There are weaknesses in almost all the aspects of the DIBP’s arrangements for managing visa holders’ compliance with their visa conditions,” stated the report. “These weaknesses undermine the department’s capacity to effectively manage the risk of visa holders not complying with their visa conditions – from simple overstaying through illegal working to committing serious crimes.”
A spokesperson for Mr Peter Dutton, the Minister for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, stated that a taskforce was put together last year to deal with fraud and exploitation that involve temporary visa holders.
The changes in the legislative that took place in late 2014 had also seen visas either being cancelled or refused for more than one thousand visitors, they said in a statement to the ABC.
They also stated that ”the Coalition Government has acted to ensure a firm approach to visa compliance, instituting various measures to strengthen Australia’s visa regime.”
”Measures to improve intelligence and data collection will help ensure people in Australia on visas adhere to their visa conditions.”
Calls for the ‘the dob-in phone line’ to be given a boost.
The Immigration Department has accepted the 4 recommendations which were put forward in the audit, and this included giving the number of calls to “the dob-in phone line” a much needed boost.
A spokesperson for the DIBP said in a statement to the ABC said that important work was well under its way to make improvements on analysis, data collection, intelligence, and storage capabilities.
They stated that ”a new framework is also being implemented to centralise the management of strategic policy, procedural instructions and standard operating procedures” and that “a review of current immigration compliance practices is also currently underway.”
The DIBP has granted over 7.5 million visas in the past financial year, with more than 4.3 millions visas being accounted for by visitor visas.
It was also outlined by the review that there was a rise in the number of people who overstayed their visas since the year 2011.
Almost nineteen thousand people overstayed their visas by anywhere from 1 to 5 years, with more than seventeen thousand overstaying by fiften years or perhaps even more.
New reform in the DIBP was the 3 major change in less than a decade, a period which also saw 3 different secretaries in the department.
Auditors however, found that in spite of the restructure and reform that has taken place, there is still little evidence there is overall improvement, not least as a result of the change that has been ongoing, with initiatives that are not often evaluated or fully implemented.
Source: abc.net.au by Stephanie Anderson
