CHAPTER 5
GENERAL CONSULAR ISSUES
Perceptions of the Travelling Public about Consular Services
5.1 As the inquiry progressed, it became very clear that there are
many different perceptions among the Australian community of the role,
functions and services provided by the Australian Government's consular
services. In his letter forwarding his Department's submission to the
Committee, then Secretary of DFAT, Mr M J Costello, wrote:
I have felt for some time that there is a gap between public
perceptions of what the Department's consular officers should be able
to do, and what they actually can do. They cannot deliver people from
overseas gaols, pay bail, run rescue missions, overturn custody decisions
or flaunt local laws - all tasks which at least some of the travelling
public expects of them and which for failure to do they have been criticised
in the Australian press and even in Parliament. [1]
5.2 The consultant, Mr Tim McDonald, who was engaged by DFAT in 1995
to review its consular services, told the Committee:
With regard to public expectations, much of what public discussion
there is of consular matters is ill-informed and out of touch with the
realities of international dealings. There are gaps between what particular
members of the public expect and what can realistically be done by governments.
[2]
5.3 In his report to DFAT, Mr McDonald wrote:
In assessing the performance of a consular service there will
always be areas of judgment, differing expectations of individuals
and their responses to similar circumstances. Differing perceptions
of where the boundaries lie between individual and family responsibilities
and those of the government will always be a source of contention.
Consular officers have to cope daily with the inherent conflicts
between principles of service including:
- humanitarian concern and protection of the taxpayers' interests
- consistency in the application of the rules and flexibility
to respond to individual needs
- centralised control and local knowledge and judgment
- considerations (and law) of privacy and the need to inform
family and media
- accountability and exercise of judgment
- assisting dysfunctional families and the invasion of privacy
- the principles enshrined in The Vienna Convention on Consular
Relations and the development of international practice in the face
of changing conditions of international travel. [3]
5.4 In its submission to the Committee, Austrade also commented on
the expectations of Australian citizens concerning consular assistance:
Generally the Australian public has a rather optimistic view
of what assistance consular staff can provide. It is usually assumed,
for example, that the Australian Government will automatically fly Australians
who are stranded in a foreign country for whatever reason back to Australia
at no cost. There is a strongly held view that, as taxpayers, the Government
should come to their aid. This causes considerable distress to the citizen
and their family, particularly if medical evacuation is required, and
can be a particularly difficult situation for consular staff to manage.
[4]
And:
Experience at our posts suggests that most Australian citizens
seeking assistance have little or no knowledge of the limits of consular
assistance. Many are simply ill-prepared to deal with personal difficulties
that can arise when 'far from home'. [5]
5.5 A former employee of the Australian Embassy in Washington also
submitted:
In my opinion, and I must stress my opinion only, a lot of people
tend to be of the opinion that when they are in trouble abroad through
their own neglect that the Australian Government through the consulate
or embassy will go and bail them out. [6]
5.6 The Committee received evidence that the Australian public's 'rather
optimistic view' of consular assistance is not limited to major emergencies.
DFAT stated that on occasions consular officers have been asked to procure
opera tickets, to provide official cars, and in one case, to take a
social security recipient to the bank to pick up a Department of Social
Security (DSS) cheque.
5.7 Australian travellers are not the only ones who have excessively
high expectations of what a consul can and can not do. A survey in 1995
carried out the by British Foreign and Commonwealth Office indicated that
70 per cent of those asked thought that a consul could automatically get
them out of gaol. [7]
5.8 Misconceptions of consular services by members of the public, where
these have been recorded in submissions or other documents or in the
Committee Hansard for this inquiry, are dealt with during discussion
of the particular service in this report.
Australian Government Consular Policy
5.9 The last occasion on which the Australian Government made a comprehensive
statement on consular policy was on 27 April 1988 when the then Foreign
Minister, the Hon Bill Hayden, MP, addressed the subject in the House
of Representatives. He said, inter alia:
- The Government is glad to accept as a primary responsibility
the protection of Australians overseas to the fullest possible extent.
- The Australian Government is prepared to do more for its
citizens than prescribed in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations
and more, in fact, than most other governments.
- The Government has active sympathy for Australians in difficulty
but it cannot always meet their expectations either because they
require action which is against international law or practice or
because they are simply beyond its resources.
- Taxpayers are entitled to expect travelling Australians
to act prudently.
- While we may not like or approve the laws of other countries
this does not give us the right to flout or ignore them as being
in some way less substantial or consequential than ours.
- Like it or not Australian[s] must obey the laws of the countries
they are visiting. If Australians do not there is a limit to what
their Government can do to alleviate the consequences.
- Consular officers will ensure, as far as possible, that
an arrested person receives the benefits of the same laws, administration
and protection of rights and redress of injury as citizens of the
country where the arrest took place, will ensure access to legal
representation and to regular consular assistance, including visits,
and that the person detained gets the same facilities as citizens
of that country.
- Consular officers cannot intervene in civil cases involving
Australians, provide legal advice or achieve the release of an arrested
person.
- While the Government may in certain circumstances address
the question of release from arrest it is not a consular function.
[8]
5.10 As Mr McDonald pointed out, much has changed in relation to consular
practice since that statement was made to the Parliament. Nevertheless,
many of the basic principles remain the same or are similar to those
espoused by Mr Hayden. The consular service has, in recent years, become
more prominent in the public arena as a result of a number of high-profile
cases given extended airing in the media. These cases involved not only
the Foreign Minister but other senior members of the Government in representations
to other governments. The raising of the political profile of the consular
service would undoubtedly have increased the status of consular work
within the Department.
5.11 On 10 February 1996, the Coalition released its Foreign Policy
Statement, A Confident Australia. In that statement, the Coalition
made several commitments concerning its approach to consular protection:
The principal responsibility of the Australian Government is
to take all steps necessary to protect and care for its citizens,
including those abroad. It is imperative then that there is ministerial
recognition of consular protection as a primary function of Australia's
foreign policy rather than merely as a secondary diversion.
In order to assist with the care and protection of Australian
citizens abroad the Coalition will take the following steps:
- conduct a full review of Australia's Consular emergency
procedures;
- we will enhance and develop the role of the Department's
Consular Crisis Centre. Its current responsibilities relate to cases
of Australians caught in disaster and emergency overseas. Under
a Coalition Government the Centre's role will also include as timely
and effective a response as possible to emergency cases involving
individual Australians lost, kidnapped or killed abroad. We will
reallocate additional resources and specialised training to enable
the Centre to carry out the new responsibilities as effectively
as possible; and
- upgrade the Honorary Consul system in order to provide Australians
with more points of contact in areas of the world not covered by
formal Australian diplomatic representation.
A particular focus of consular protection will be to ensure
that there is consistent and high quality attention to the family
members of those Australian citizens who have been subject to mishap
whilst abroad.
5.12 In November 1996, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Alexander
Downer, wrote to the Committee concerning the Government's views on
consular services. He stated that the Howard Government had 'given the
greatest possible attention to our consular obligations to all Australians'.
He pointed to the appointment of a Parliamentary Secretary, the Hon
Andrew Thomson, to be responsible for consular and aid matters; personal
representations made to foreign governments on a number of consular
cases; the establishment of the Consular Response Group; and, the continued
development of the Honorary Consul program as examples of the Government's
commitment to consular service.
5.13 The Committee notes the Government's views on consular services
and the measures already implemented, particularly the appointment of
a Parliamentary Secretary with oversight of consular matters. However,
given the higher public profile for the consular service and the misconceptions
which members of the public often have about what the consular service
can and cannot do for Australians overseas, the Committee believes it
is timely for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to make a further public
statement on consular policy and practice.
5.14 Mr McDonald recommended that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, in
the context of this Committee's inquiry, make a further statement, taking
account of changes that have occurred in consular practice since 1988,
'to redefine the context in which the Department carries out its consular
responsibilities and to guide officers in the performance of their duties'.
[9] The Committee concurs with this view.
Fees for Services
5.15 It is currently the policy not to charge for any consular service
provided by a post or from DFAT in Canberra other than for legal process
(including the performance of notarial acts, the taking of oaths, affirmations
and declarations and service of documents abroad). [10]
The cost of providing consular services is already largely if not fully
met from revenue received from the issue of passports, depending on the
method of calculating consular costs. In one sense, then, Australians
travelling overseas have already paid for the consular services to which
they are entitled to receive in times of need.
5.16 The Committee believes that consular services which are currently
free of charge should remain free of charge to Australian citizens and
those people of other nationalities who are entitled to use Australian
consular services under sharing arrangements or in emergencies. It is
very much in the national interest for travellers not to be deterred
from seeking advice or help from an Australian post overseas, especially
where their personal safety may be at stake. The Committee was told
that backpackers do not readily seek advice from Australian posts. Many
other Australians probably have a similar tendency to avoid Australian
posts, even when they are proposing to travel in dangerous areas. Charging
for consular services would only deter more people from seeking official
advice. This would be counter productive as the time, effort and cost
of helping someone who has got into serious trouble by not seeking advice
would far outweigh the revenue gained from a fee for service.
5.17 In any event, the Committee believes that the Australian Government
has a duty to assist Australians in need of help overseas and that such
assistance should be free of charge.
Consular Public Affairs Activities
5.18 As already stated, there appears to be misconceptions and unrealistic
expectations amongst a large number of travellers about what consular
assistance is available. The prevalence of such views can lead to time-consuming
misunderstandings, confusion and frustration for travellers and consular
officers, both in Canberra and overseas. A further matter is to ensure
that the public know how to reduce the risk of getting into difficulties
overseas and that the travelling public is alert to possible dangers
before they leave Australia. A more informed and better prepared travelling
public would reduce avoidable demands on consular staff thereby freeing
resources to assist those Australians in real need.
5.19 The Department undertakes a number of activities to inform and
educate the public, politicians, industry groups and the media about
the consular service. Briefings are given to MPs' and Senators' staff,
seminars are conducted for the travel industry and the media is briefed
on individual cases and on general consular matters. The Department
also distributes a number of publications.
5.20 DFAT publishes quarterly the Consular Newsletter which contains
information on travel and related subjects. Although it is intended
for the travel industry and is sent to all Australian Federation of
Travel Agents' (AFTA) members, copies are also distributed to others
who ask for it and to MPs and Senators.
5.21 Since 1975 DFAT has included a guide to travellers with every
Australia passport issued. The present publication, Hints for Australian
Travellers, contains general information on visas, inoculations, health
issues and travel insurance, and warnings on some of the difficulties
that a traveller may encounter overseas. The limits of consular assistance
are described and information on voting, customs and quarantine matters
and the dangers of child sex tourism are included. Locations and telephone
numbers for consulates, Honorary Consuls and foreign embassies providing
consular assistance to Australians are provided. Hints for Australian
Travellers contains advertising to help offset the cost of the publication.
5.22 Although Hints contains important information for travellers,
there are limits to its usefulness. As Hints is only issued with new
passports, a traveller would normally only receive a copy once every
10 years. It is also often misplaced, lost or forgotten during the ten
year period of the currency of the passport.
5.23 DFAT has been addressing this problem. Hints is now available on
the Internet and a new pamphlet, Travelling Overseas? has been produced.
This pamphlet contains a list of services that consular officials provide
to travellers and other relevant information for travellers abroad. It
is available at all departure points in Australia. DFAT reported that
the pamphlet has been well received at travel industry seminars. However,
as the pamphlet had to be funded from the consular budget, Mr Fisher,
First Assistant Secretary, Public Affairs and Consular Branch, thought
they had insufficient funds to meet the demand from travel agents for
copies of the pamphlet. He said they were considering seeking sponsorship
for the publication, which would enable a wider distribution of the publication.
[11]
5.24 The Committee commends the Department for its production of Travelling
Overseas? However, the Committee notes that both Hints and Travelling
Overseas? are available only in English and that resource restrictions
may prevent the wider distribution of the new pamphlet, for example,
to community groups and institutions such as the Youth Hostels Association,
as well as the whole travel industry.
5.25 Many other areas of government publish information in a number
of languages to ensure that Australian residents whose first language
is not English understand fully the information that is being disseminated.
The Committee believes it is important for all Australian residents
travelling abroad to have access to official travel advice and be aware
of available consular services in a language which they fully understand.
There is also the matter of access and equity for people who were raised
in non-English speaking families. The Committee is cognisant of resource
constraints to which the Department is subjected but believes that such
constraints should not override the welfare and safety of Australians
travelling abroad.
5.26 Mr Fisher told the Committee in March 1997 that they had run a program
of seminars for the travel industry to discuss consular activities, travel
insurance and other matters. Mr Hamilton, Assistant Secretary, Consular
Branch, also said that they had been working with Australian institutions
that run training courses for the travel industry to have included in
those courses segments on consular services. He reported 'the reaction
from many institutions has been very positive. While I am sure they would
love us to run the course for them, we are not going to do that, but we
will be, wherever we can, putting out information to them.' [12]
This approach is aimed at informing prospective travel agents about consular
services before they enter the industry rather than a reliance on peak
industry bodies disseminating information to their members.
5.27 However, AFTA said that among the general public there is still
a widespread lack of knowledge consular services and even how to contact
the Department. Mrs Allom of AFTA stated that the Federation often received
telephone calls from the public following press statements about the safety
of travel overseas as they did not know where to seek further information.
The Federation suggested that a 'help desk' be established by DFAT and
that the Department should publicise its services. [13]
5.28 The lack of awareness of DFAT's role was also highlighted in a submission
to the Committee from the mother of an Australian extradited to the Netherlands.
She stated that it was not until three months after extradition that she
'stumbled onto Foreign Affairs' and that on arrival in the Netherlands
her son had at first declined consular assistance as he did not understand
the role of consular services. [14]
5.29 In evidence in May 1997, Mr Fisher told the Committee that a new
unit had been established within the Consular Operations Section whose
purpose is to provide better information to the travelling public. Mr
Fisher stated:
We have had a lot of talks in our meetings with you about travel
advices and it has seemed to us that perhaps we can improve the level
of service which we give to the travelling public in providing information
to travellers. Up until now, we have had at one extreme, travel advices
which have tended to cover those quite serious causes of concern in
other countries and then, at the other end of the spectrum, we have
been giving advice to people at embassies. But there has been - and
I think your hearings have pointed to this - perhaps a bit of a gap
in the advice we have been giving to travellers before they leave Australia.
[15]
Mr Fisher said that travellers will be able to ring the Department
and ask for advice on travelling to particular countries. The unit will
gather 'the sort of information which would be relevant to travellers
who will actually be visiting a place and who wish to get some advice
on that place before they go'. [16]
At the time of the May 1997 hearing, the unit had just been brought
into operation.
5.30 The Committee welcomes the formation of the information unit.
Although detailed information about particular countries has been available
from 'geographic desks' within the Department, the information provided
by the unit will focus more on the special needs of travellers. The
Committee believes that with better preparation, fewer travellers will
get into trouble which will in turn reduce the call on consular services.
However, the success of the unit will rely on public access to it. It
is therefore incumbent on DFAT to ensure that the unit's services are
well advertised and promoted.
5.31 The Committee also believes that DFAT should also investigate
other avenues for disseminating travel information. The Committee notes
that both the United Kingdom and Canada produce a greater range of publications
for their citizens. These include information for those gaoled overseas,
information specifically for backpackers and independent travellers,
advice for next of kin of travellers who have died overseas, information
for dual nationals and advice for parents when a child has been abducted.
British consular staff also participate in travel fairs (which DFAT
staff also do) and the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office produces
television information films (fillers) which are broadcast free to air
as community service announcements.
5.32 In his submission to the Committee, Mr Tim Wilson in highlighting
the role of the Government to forewarn travellers about the dangers
of entering countries like Cambodia, suggested that:
Maybe this could be done by community awareness advertisements
on T.V. and newspapers sponsored by the Government, similar to drink
driving campaigning which has proved to have successful results. [17]
5.33 The Foreign and Commonwealth Office also produces a range of small
information pamphlets for a number of countries which list a number
of 'do's and don'ts' specific to each country. Dr John Flynn in evidence
on his detention under a little publicised Indian antiquities law, stated
to the Committee that:
I did suggest in conversation with the consular officers that
the general travel warning was so vague and so elastically expressed
that it could mean almost anything. I suggested that the government
might consider publishing little notes about information that was important
for Australian tourists in each country with the specific warnings relating
to that country. [18]
5.34 Although there are resource implications, the Committee believes
that DFAT should also explore these other suggestions. In particular,
the Committee believes that there is a need for information directed
specifically at backpackers and independent travellers. It is often
this group of travellers who will go 'off the beaten track', have limited
financial resources and may decline to take out travel insurance. It
is this group which will probably be reluctant to seek an up-to-date
Travel Advice from the Australian post in the country in which they
are travelling.
5.35 The Department is now using the Internet to bring Travel Advices
and Hints to a broader audience. DFAT submitted that for the week 16-22
February 1997 the DFAT home page recorded 56,771 total hits. This is
an average of 8,110 hits per day and 357 hits per hour. However, DFAT
pointed out these figures show total use of the site, not just visits
to consular services, as hits include visits to the home page, directories,
title pages and logos. Moreover, the figures include access to the home
pages by departmental staff as well as international visitors.
5.36 DFAT provided a breakdown of hits during the sample week by origin
with 27 per cent from Australia, 17 per cent from US commercial sources,
10 per cent from networks, 5.6 per cent from US educational institutions,
20 per cent from other origins and 18 per cent unknown. The consular travel
advice section was the most frequently visited part of the site, with
the media, press release and speeches pages the next most visited part
of the site. This was followed by departmental publications. [19]
5.37 The Committee believes that access to Internet information will
benefit travellers who have access to the Internet, the number of whom
is growing rapidly. This is an economical means of disseminating consular
advice and information and as Mr Hamilton noted, 'presumably it is
more likely to be tapped into by younger persons than older people'. [20]
However, DFAT's task is to make its web site widely known, not only to
the travel industry but also to the travellers themselves.
5.38 The Committee recommends that DFAT:
- investigate the possibility of producing Travelling
Overseas? in languages other than English;
- pursue sponsorship for the production of Travelling
Overseas?; and
- consider the need for more topic specific publications,
in particular publications directed at backpackers and independent
travellers.
|
Travel Advices
Policy and practice
5.39 The Consular Branch of DFAT is responsible for issuing Travel
Advices 'to alert Australian travellers and the travel industry to the
potential dangers in visiting certain countries or regions'. A Travel
Advice normally suggests one of the following graduated courses of action
to travellers:
- exercise due care
- maintain a high level of personal security awareness
- consider deferring non-essential travel
- consider avoiding all travel. [21]
5.40 The Travel Advice also refers readers to the Department or the
relevant post for more information. As at 16 January 1997, 49 Travel
Advices were current.
5.41 The Department submitted that Travel Advices are not issued for
all areas which may be potentially dangerous for travellers. It uses
the following points to decide whether there is justification for issuing
a Travel Advice:
- the nature of the threat posed to foreign visitors;
- the number (and prospect) of Australian visitors to the country/region;
- the number of Australian residents in the country/region;
- the profile of the situation in the local and international media;
- the capacity for local authorities to deal with the particular situation;
and
- the reliability of the information on which assessments are based.
[22]
In evidence, Mr Fisher explained further:
The point is: at what level do you make a threshold before
you issue a travel advice? We have set our threshold fairly high.
We have not put out, for example, a travel advisory on New York. People
often say to us, `Why don't you?' The reason is that we have tried
to keep our travel advisories at a threshold where we think the problem
is at a stage where government needs to draw the attention of the
traveller to that issue. We vacillate about New York and, indeed,
Miami as places where we might think about putting out travel advisories.
We try to couch our advisories in very general terms so that we have
this broad coverage. We do not try to come in on very small specific
things.
We also try not to be too prescriptive to the travellers. The
Australian traveller is a free agent and can travel wherever they like.
There are very few places where we actually tell people to avoid. There
are a few. Somalia is one, as is Bougainville as of this weekend. South
Sudan is another. We have not put out a `Don't travel' to Zaire. We
have for Rwanda recently and Burundi at times. [23]
5.42 A recommendation to not travel to a country is only taken where
the level of lawlessness or danger by war or insurrection is felt by DFAT
to place travellers at risk of life or limb or where there is no local
authority to preserve law and order or where there is outright war. [24]
5.43 Some criticism was levelled at DFAT during the inquiry because it
either did not issue a Travel Advice for a specific area or for the Travel
Advice system not being comprehensive enough. Mr Sam Maresh criticised
DFAT for not issuing a Travel Advice regarding Kupang in West Timor following
the death of his brother Ben. [25] The
death of an Australian overseas, whether or not he was murdered, does
not necessarily justify issuing a Travel Advice for that area. In the
case of Ben Maresh, there was no evidence given to the Committee that
Australians generally have been at risk in Kupang. In these circumstances,
and the lack of clear evidence surrounding Ben's death, it was, in the
opinion of the Committee, quite reasonable for DFAT not to issue a Travel
Advice for Kupang as a result of his death.
5.44 The Travel Advices issued by DFAT are not as comprehensive as
those issued by some governments, such as those of the USA or the United
Kingdom. DFAT argued that those two countries have a broader web of
diplomatic representation and greater resources with which to provide
a more comprehensive Travel Advice system. They also have substantially
more citizens travelling abroad than Australia.
5.45 In its submission, DFAT questioned the need for a more comprehensive
Australian Travel Advice system, arguing that it was not aware of consular
cases arising from the inadequacy of Australian Travel Advices. That
may have been the case although one can never be sure that consular
cases did not arise wholly or partly as a result of inadequate Travel
Advices. In a dynamic world, where many areas are beset with security
problems for travellers or where dangerous situations can arise quickly,
it is important that Australian travellers have the best information
available about the security of areas to which they propose to travel.
This has added cogency with more and more Australians travelling overseas
and visiting areas which may pose security risks for travellers.
5.46 There are, of course, constraints in establishing an ideal Travel
Advice system. As pointed out by DFAT, it does not have resources available
to provide a system as comprehensive as that of the USA or the United
Kingdom (the Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued over 430 advices
in 1995 covering 122 countries). Some compromises have to be made or
other arrangements entered into by the Department to improve the system.
Mr Fisher told the Committee in March 1997 that:
Certainly most Western governments that I know of have them [travel
advice systems]. Some of them are less comprehensive than ours; some
of them are more comprehensive than ours. Probably the most comprehensive
would be the British, and the Americans are pretty comprehensive. The
British have a very big staff working on this. They put out a much greater
number of travel advices covering in a lot more detail the issues which
they want to put out. We get copies of the Canadian and British ones.
We do not get the American ones regularly. We cross-reference a bit
with them. They get ours. Where we think there is a gap, we try to cover
it. [26]
5.47 Mr Fisher went on to say that following a meeting with US consular
officials the previous week, arrangements to exchange consular advices
with the US should be put in place fairly quickly. The Committee understands
that the new information unit within the Consular Operations Section
will draw on UK and US travel advices where necessary in providing travel
advice on request, sourcing the advice back to the country of origin.
5.48 DFAT drew attention to associated effects from having a Travel
Advice system. It said:
The Department's primary responsibility is to protect the interests
of Australian travellers. Nevertheless, it is aware that Travel Advices
may have other effects. A Travel Advice may impact on the travel industry,
for example through discouraging potential clients from travelling to
a particular country or through triggering decisions on travel insurance
refunds. Other governments may see them as having a detrimental effect
on their tourist industry, or imply a lack of confidence in their security
measures, and react adversely. Thus the Department is conscious of the
need to be able to defend assessments made in Travel Advices in the
face of critical reactions from foreign governments. [27]
5.49 When a country protests about a Travel Advice, DFAT stated:
We do say to countries who protest about the text of a travel
advice that this is not a reflection of our relations, it is not a
sign of good or bad relations, it is not a sign that we are about
to change relations. It is nothing to do with a bilateral relationship.
It is a factual assessment of what we think we should be saying to
the Australian traveller, and it does not have any political content
at all.
We have held that line quite strictly because, ... a number of
countries, including countries which are very friendly with us, have
said from time to time that they do not like the terms of the advice,
they think this will impact on their tourist industry and their tourist
industry is important to them economically. The argument is a very strong
one, as far as they are concerned. But we do not pull our punches, if
you like, on a travel advisory because of political factors; we simply
say to other countries that there is just no connection between the
two. [28]
5.50 A Travel Advice might discourage some travellers from travelling
to a particular country but will not necessarily dissuade those people
from travelling, perhaps to an alternative safer destination. Moreover,
the negative effects of a Travel Advice would not be nearly as pronounced
as those resulting from a well-publicised Australian death or from an
Australian taken hostage overseas.
5.51 Travel Advices should not be issued lightly and the assessments
should be able to be defended from criticism of relevant governments.
Nevertheless, as DFAT pointed out, its primary responsibility is to
protect the interests of Australian travellers and this responsibility
overrides the sensitivities of other governments.
Dissemination of Travel Advices
5.52 DFAT issues Travel Advices in the form of departmental media releases.
Their subsequent publication through the media is therefore dependent
on editorial decisions in print and electronic media newsrooms. Obviously,
the extent and nature of their exposure in the media depend largely
on their newsworthiness.
5.53 DFAT includes Travel Advices on its Internet site (as media releases,
not in a separate section specifically for Travel Advices) and has them
placed on the Galileo, Fantasia and Abacus computer reservation systems
used by most travel agents. [29] The
text of Travel Advices are included in the consular newsletter which goes
directly to travel agents. [30] The
existence of Travel Advices is included in DFAT's publication Hints for
Australian Travellers, which is given to all passport recipients. [31]
5.54 The Manager of AFTA, Mrs M Allom, told the Committee that DFAT faxed
Travel Advices to AFTA which put them on AFTA's Internet site within hours
of their receipt. AFTA also published Travel Advices in its bi-monthly
magazine. [32]
5.55 She said that 60 per cent of travel agents in Australia (about 2,500
of 4,000) belonged to AFTA and they wrote 90 per cent of the business.
There was one large travel agent which was not a member of AFTA. [33]
With regard to Internet access by AFTA members, Mrs Allom said:
It is quite a new concept in the industry. Our members are just
now starting, over the last 12 months, to access and become connected
to it. I would say that, at the moment, probably only 30 to 40 per cent
would have access, but that is growing rapidly because the CRS companies,
the computer reservation system companies, are now all changing their
systems to a [W]indow[s] based product, and that then can be linked
to the Internet. [34]
5.56 DFAT drew attention to the problem of travel agents not accessing
the Travel Advices and not passing on relevant information to their clients.
DFAT had asked AFTA to include in its training courses the need for agents
to give clients the text of relevant Travel Advices. However, the Department
advised that it had no way of knowing whether information in Travel Advices
is passed to clients by travel agents. DFAT reported, however, that at
a meeting with travel agent representatives, it was suggested that it
would probably take only one case of a client suing an agent for negligence
for not drawing attention to a relevant Travel Advice, for most agents
to begin passing on such information to clients as a matter of course.
[35]
5.57 The Wilson family in their written and oral evidence to the Committee
criticised DFAT for not distributing Travel Advices to places in Phnom
Penh where backpackers tended to stay. In its submission, DFAT acknowledged
difficulties in ensuring that Australians, proposing to travel to areas
subject to Travel Advices, have the benefit of reading the Advices before
finalising their travel plans. It referred to three proposals put forward
by the public and the media for improving dissemination of Travel Advices,
including placing them in hotels frequented by Australians, distributing
them concurrent with visa issue, and making them available at foreign
airports and arriving passengers.
5.58 DFAT went on to comment on these proposals:
There are obvious difficulties with each of these suggestions.
Our Embassy in Phnom Penh attempted last year to put a copy of the
Cambodia Travel Advice in each hotel in Phnom Penh (just one relatively
small city) but found the exercise both enormously time consuming
and not effective. After all, do travellers read hotel notice boards?
Foreign - not Australian - governments issue visas to Australian travellers
and those governments could not be expected to dissuade travellers
by cooperating in the process. Equally, foreign governments could
not be expected to facilitate issue of generalised warnings to travellers
at the time of their arrival. Additionally, targeting airports would
not reach those travellers arriving via overland routes etc.
The methods suggested above are clearly impractical and ineffective.
Not only do they target travellers after they have travelled or after
they have decided to travel but they are time consuming and haphazard.
[36]
5.59 The Committee agrees that the above proposals are impractical
and ineffective for the reasons given by DFAT. The placing of Travel
Advices in hotels in Phnom Penh was obviously done at the suggestion
of the Wilson family, who also put the same proposal strongly to the
Committee. Apart from the question of the effectiveness of such a practice,
which would be very difficult to evaluate, posts do not have the resources
to undertake such tasks, other than in very exceptional circumstances.
One should also not lose sight of the fact that travellers, too, have
responsibilities to ensure their own safety and that of their families.
Although many travellers, especially backpackers, may not want to visit
an Australian embassy or high commission to obtain travel advice, this
does not override the onus on them to do so, particularly in a country
or region where there are obviously areas that are dangerous for visitors.
5.60 DFAT drew attention to a number of options to improve dissemination
of Travel Advices, which have been under consideration:
- The Department itself might take steps to publicise the
issuing of Travel Advices by purchasing advertising space in newspapers
or on television and radio programs. However, the cost of this would
be substantial.
- A telephone/fax 'help-line' could be established to provide
both the travel industry and potential travellers with details of
which countries were the subject of Travel Advices. Again, there
are obvious resource and staffing implications.
- Travel Advices could be put on the Internet thus facilitating
direct access to the actual texts by interested individuals. Travel
Advices currently appear on the Internet as Departmental press releases
rather than as Travel Advices.
- The Department could include, with every passport issued,
a list of countries subject to a Travel Advice with a Departmental
number to ring for further information. This would, again, have
resource implications but, more importantly, passports are valid
for 10 years so most travellers would not have access through this
channel to up to date information.
- Relevant travel programs (eg Getaway) and publications (eg
Lonely Planet series) could be encouraged to mention Travel Advices
in their programs/publications. The Department has made preliminary
contact with the media on this. Needless to say, the danger of travel
is not always a subject that the industry wishes to stress, and Advices
need to be more up-to-date than publication in books would normally
allow. [37]
5.61 The Committee believes that the strategy DFAT should adopt in
disseminating Travel Advices is to ensure that they are available from
a number of sources on a continuing basis and then to promote the location
of those sources and the need for travellers to consult them.
5.62 The purchase of advertising space in the print or electronic media
would not only be an expensive option but would also only provide transient
information to the public. It might provide information about a particular
region at that time but would not provide continuing information about
the situation in that region. It would therefore be hard to justify
pursuing an option which potentially offers only limited benefits.
5.63 The Committee is astounded that, until recently, Travel Advices
only appeared on DFAT's Internet site under the heading of departmental
press releases and not in their own right. Travel Advices, which might
affect the safety of Australians travelling abroad, have to be highlighted
on DFAT's home page and not just buried among press releases.
5.64 The provision to recipients of passports of a list of countries
subject to Travel Advices would be ineffective because the information
contained in the Advices often dates quickly. Moreover, lists would
need to be regularly updated as new Travel Advices are issued and old
ones revised. More importantly, recipients should be advised about the
Travel Advice system and where they can find information in the future.
5.65 A similar approach should be taken to promotion of Travel Advices
in travel programs and publications. The Committee agrees that Travel
Advice information can become dated quickly rendering ineffective its
use in travel programs and publications. Such programs and publications
should, however, be encouraged to explain the Travel Advice system and
to tell viewers or readers from where Travel Advice information can
be obtained.
5.66 In May 1997, DFAT told the Committee that it had established a
unit within the Consular Operations Section for the purpose of providing
better information to the public. Travellers will be able to ring DFAT
to obtain the latest Travel Advice about a particular country or region
as well as other information about the places they are travelling to.
(See also paragraph 5.29.)
5.67 The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice Unit, apart
from having direct telephone and fax links and an Internet connection,
also has a recorded telephone service providing Travel Advices for the
13 of the most popular countries visited by British tourists. Such a
service, perhaps with an option to transfer to an operator, would be
another method of disseminating Travel Advice information to the public.
5.68 As use of the Internet grows around the world, hotels and information
services will increasingly be able to provide travellers with access
to up-to-date travel advice during their travels to avoid reliance on
advice received before their departure.
5.69 In a submission to the Committee, Medical Advisory Services for
Travellers Abroad (MASTA) pointed out that they provide a much more
comprehensive and timely travel advice service, which is based on information
from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Travel Advice Unit and US State
Department Alerts. MASTA proposed combining its services with those
of DFAT and to use up-to-date technology to provide a more detailed
and widely disseminated travel/health advice to the public. In particular,
it proposed that the service should be made available:
- At International Australian airports through a Touch Screen Information
Service installed and maintained by MASTA.
- To all airline ticket purchasers a printout from Computer Reservation
Systems (CRS) showing Latest Health News and Foreign Office Advice.
This would be automatically issued for the destinations on their ticket
(even people buying tickets on the Internet). MASTA would maintain
the accuracy of this information.
- Make provision for the information to be on a 1900 number service.
This service is currently restricted by Telstra and hampered by a
limited number of information providers using the service.
- A joint stand at major capital city Travel Shows annually with MASTA
providing information in co-operation with the Department of Foreign
Affairs and Trade.
5.70 Underpinning the current Travel Advice system is the need to provide
Australian travellers with current and accurate travel advice about
those destinations which have been assessed as being dangerous to visitors.
In times of financial stringency, with resources for new services difficult
to attain, a partial out-sourcing of the Travel Advice system to an
interested commercial party with expertise in the same field appears
to be, superficially, a sensible approach to adopt by DFAT. Both the
content and dissemination of the information would be improved without
tying up scarce resources.
5.71 The Committee also notes that the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
is a user of MASTA information in the UK [38]
and that MASTA has extensive information on traveller health. Information
is disseminated by MASTA to 22,000 GPs through a quarterly newsletter
and organisations can access its database through a modem.
5.72 The Committee believes that DFAT should discuss with MASTA whether
there is some basis for co-operation in order to enhance advice given
to prospective travellers about the countries to which they intend to
visit, not only from the point of view of personal security but also
the health risks from travelling in those areas.
Financial Assistance to Travellers
Travellers' emergency loans
5.73 Consular officers are authorised to provide small loans to Australian
travellers abroad in emergencies. At the present time the loan is limited
to $150 per person. If a new passport is required an additional amount
is advanced. DFAT summarised the main points covered in the Consular
Instructions as follows:
- recipients must be Australian citizens and emergency assistance
is normally only available to short-term travellers rather than those
who live overseas semi-permanently or permanently;
- Australians have no legal entitlement to financial assistance; it
is only given against an undertaking to repay. Individuals with an
outstanding loan can be denied a new passport until the loan is recovered;
- emergency financial assistance is designed to assist Australians
who find themselves short of funds because of accident or illness,
delays in departure due to cancellation of ship, aircraft etc, loss
or theft of money and/or travel documents or a delay in receipt of
funds from other sources. An emergency loan is available to destitute
Australians awaiting repatriation;
- emergency loans are short term measures only. Recipients are expected
to take immediate action to obtain funds from family/friends; and
- consular officers may without reference to Canberra lend up to $150;
any application for more than this amount must be referred to the Department
in Canberra. [39]
5.74 When an amount is lent to a traveller, an annotation is made in
the back of their passport. Before new monies are lent, consular officers
check the back of the passport to see if any amounts are outstanding.
5.75 DFAT raised two related questions in relation to consular loans
of $150: whether the loan should be the same amount in all countries
and whether the amount of the loan is sufficient? DFAT submitted that:
Quite clearly $150 in New Delhi or Bangkok has far greater purchasing
power than the same amount in Los Angeles or Paris. There is an argument
to be mounted for establishing a sliding scale of loans which takes
into account the cost of living of the country in which the loan is
provided. Such information is available to the Department through the
figures on which it bases its cost of living allowances for Departmental
officers. [40]
Austrade also questioned the setting of a global limit of $150
pointing out that in Germany this amount is 'insufficient considering
the price of accommodation and basic sustenance'. [41]
5.76 In his consultant's report, Mr McDonald recommended that more flexible
guidelines for loans be introduced; that the maximum level of advance
be increased and the maximum advance be determined to reflect relative
costs of subsistence with countries banded into three or four different
levels. [42]
5.77 DFAT said in its submission that some recipients have commented
that the loan was not sufficient to meet their immediate requirements.
However, in evidence Mr Hamilton noted that it was not often that further
amounts are requested as 'the $150 does seem to be quite adequate' and
often people are only lent $20. [43]
Further, each member of a family, including children, may be advanced
$150.
5.78 The Committee cannot determine whether $150 is an appropriate
level for emergency loans as it does not have the requisite information
on the cost of living in other countries. However, as the loan is intended
to meet an Australian traveller's immediate needs in an emergency (food,
accommodation, etc.), the loan should be set at a level which meets
those immediate needs. As flagged by DFAT, a universal loan cannot meet
this objective because of wide variations in the cost of living among
countries. The loan should have regard to the cost of living of the
country in which it is issued. This is probably best based, at least
initially, on the cost of living allowances for departmental officers.
The amount of the loan should be revised each time the cost of living
allowances are revised. Once the new scale of loans has been working
for a while, it should be reviewed to assess whether it meets the immediate
needs of recipients across all countries.
5.79 The Committee recommends that the global limit of traveller's
emergency loans be reviewed to have regard to the cost of living of
each country in which it is issued.
5.80 As at 1995-96, the total amount outstanding to the Commonwealth
from unrepaid loans was $49,019. The following table shows the loans
issued, amounts recovered and the amounts outstanding to the Commonwealth.
Table 5.1: Short Term Emergency Financial Loans to Australian
Travellers
1990-91 |
1991-92 |
1992-93 |
1993-94 |
1994-95 |
1995-96 |
No. of recipients |
1,155 |
1,009 |
1,015 |
771 |
689 |
577 |
Total funds loaned |
$132,000 |
$99,560 |
$138,585 |
$83,076 |
$92,232 |
$61,143 |
Total funds recovered per year |
$112,000 |
$112,294 |
$97,348 |
$73,648 |
$54,394 |
$64,062 |
Total funds written off per year |
$20,650 |
$27,065 |
$24,474 |
$4,997 |
$29,229 |
$9,944 |
Total owing to Commonwealth |
|
$51,282 |
$57,063 |
$64,664 |
$46,123 |
$49,019 |
Source: DFAT submission, p. 68.
5.81 Mr McDonald submitted that the record of repayment of loans is good
with approximately two-thirds being repaid immediately and 80 per cent
being recovered within 12 months. [44]
DFAT stated that outstanding loans are pursued. In the last two years,
there was 105 per cent and 112 per cent repayment respectively. DFAT also
noted that only 20 or 30 per cent of loans extended by Canadian officials
to their citizens were repaid. [45]
In the case of loans provided by Canadian consular officials under the
consular sharing arrangements, DFAT repays the loans to Canada and then
pursues the recovery of outstanding amounts from recipients in Australia.
5.82 Although sums are written off annually and DFAT ceases to pursue
actively the recovery of the loan, the passport database continues to
have reference to the loan. Mr Hamilton said that the Department
recovers the debt before it issues a new passport. [46]
5.83 The Committee notes that there has been a significant decline
in the issue of loans in recent years. This is presumably the result
of easier transfer of funds and use of credit cards. If this trend continues,
or even if it slows, increases in the maximum level of advance would
be offset by fewer loans issued.
Repatriation and Medical Evacuation
5.84 Australian travellers regularly seek financial assistance from
consular officials to return to Australia or to arrange medical evacuation.
In 1995-96, 130 Australians were given guidance and assistance in arranging
their return to Australia. In the same period, 640 Australians who were
hospitalised sought consular assistance while 120 of these were evacuated
to another location for medical purposes. The majority of those seeking
help with the costs of returning to Australia were assisted by consular
officers to make alternative arrangements. Only seven requests for repatriation
at Commonwealth expense were actually approved in 1995-96 and to April
1997 in 1996-97, six Australians had been repatriated. In 1995-96, six
were evacuated because of a medical condition.
Repatriation
5.85 DFAT is prepared to repatriate Australians who cannot afford to
pay the fare themselves. It will not generally repatriate Australians
who went overseas without a return ticket or who are living overseas
permanently or semi-permanently. Repatriation is only approved when
the applicant cannot obtain the money for the fare from any other source,
including family and friends. A guarantee of full repayment is sought
before repatriation is approved. The applicant's passport is amended
to restrict him or her to travelling to Australia and nowhere else until
full repayment is made. In addition, the airline ticket is endorsed
to prevent any change in destination or refund.
5.86 An applicant who is a single parent travelling with children must
prove that they have custody of those children and have the right to remove
the children from the country of present residence before any assistance
is given. [47]
Medical evacuation
5.87 Travellers are expected to meet the cost of medical services or
evacuations through private travel insurance or their own resources. DFAT
submitted that medical evacuations to a location with adequate facilities
'are available for Australians who cannot afford to pay for it and whose
medical condition demands it'. [48]
Conditions and restrictions for loans for medical evacuations are similar
to those applying to loans for normal repatriation, as described above.
5.88 DFAT also noted that the RAAF sometimes arranges medical evacuations
(medivacs) in Hercules aircraft in the South Pacific. The evacuation is
undertaken as a training exercise and so is free of cost to the Department
and the patient. However, RAAF medivacs are only undertaken if an aircraft
is available and it can be included in the RAAF's training program requirements.
[49]
Recovery of loans
5.89 DFAT noted that the number of medical evacuations and repatriations
each year are limited, but the amounts involved per person are high. For
example, in the 1993-94 financial year the Commonwealth contributed $107,912.12
towards the medical and hospital charges and the cost of the evacuation
of a critically ill Australian citizen from China. The family of the traveller
undertook to repay the whole of the Commonwealth outlays. [50]
5.90 While recipients of repatriation or medical evacuation loans or
their families or friends guarantee repayment of them, 'a sizeable amount
expended by the Government is not repaid'. [51]
The following table indicates the funds expended by the Commonwealth and
amounts outstanding.
Table 5.2: Repatriations and medical evacuations
1990-91 |
1991-92 |
1992-93 |
1993-94 |
1994-95 |
1995-96 |
No. of
persons
|
7 |
6 |
16 |
2 |
9 |
13 |
Total funds
used
|
$30,190 |
$8,584 |
$27,136 |
$91,732 |
$58,396 |
$17,955 |
Total funds
recovered
|
$7,050 |
$12,116 |
$9,325 |
$6,887 |
$9,553 |
$575 |
Total funds
written off
|
$14,800 |
$1,562 |
$2,322 |
$nil |
$nil |
$4,669 |
Total funds outstanding to Commonwealth |
|
$69,661 |
$83,744 |
$286,011 |
$256,279 |
$283,883 |
Source: DFAT submission, p. 69.
5.91 The Department seeks to recover money owed to it for repatriation
and evacuation costs from the traveller. If the person is unable to
reimburse the Commonwealth immediately, he or she is given the option
of paying in regular instalments. However, under regulation, the Department
has no means of recovering that money. The Passports Act requires that
passport facilities be denied to persons who have debts to the Commonwealth
incurred overseas and thus the only step the Department can take is
to deny the recipient a new passport. DFAT raised with the Committee
several options for recovery of outstanding moneys from unrepaid loans.
5.92 Repatriation and medical evacuation loans are issued on the strict
condition that the loans are repaid. There is therefore an obligation
on the recipient to repay the loan. In some cases it may take some time
for a recipient to repay a loan, particularly following an expensive
medical evacuation. There may also be on occasions special circumstances
where the Commonwealth is prepared to write off the loans. However,
in all other circumstances, the Department should have the power to
recover public moneys from recipients of unrepaid loans.
5.93 The Committee supports an option put forward by DFAT that as a
first step, the Commonwealth should have the power to impound a recipient's
passport on return to Australia, to be held at the Minister's pleasure,
until the loan is repaid or at least other arrangements are put in place
for recovery of the money loaned. Alternatively, the passport should
be endorsed to prevent further use pending repayment of the loan. This
would at least prevent the recipient from travelling overseas during
the currency of his or her passport, except in special circumstances,
while still owing money to the Commonwealth.
5.94 As many Australians are dual nationals and have one or more other
passports, or the recipient of the loan may not intend to travel overseas
again, other measures should be put in place to recover outstanding
loans. On the assumption that many recipients of loans may not have
much money, any recovery action should take account of the financial
means of the recipient. The Committee therefore does not favour using
recovery measures such as the Small Claims Tribunal but prefers the
more sensitive option suggested by DFAT in its submission, which is
used by some European countries. This would involve:
putting in place legislative arrangements ... whereby, with the
applicant's consent, emergency financial assistance can be provided
and the debt registered against existing Government entitlements (eg
tax refunds, social security payments) or added to the applicant's future
tax liabilities. [52]
5.95 This option would take account of a recipient's ability to repay
the loan and transfer the task of recovery to an agency which has the
expertise and experience to handle such matters. The Committee does
not believe that it would be appropriate for DFAT to administer recovery
procedures. The Committee understands that similar arrangements are
in place to ensure a divorced parent pays maintenance for his or her
ex-spouse and child(ren) in the custody of the other parent.
5.96 The Committee therefore recommends that the
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade institute measures to
impound passports of travellers, to prevent the person from
travelling overseas, while they owe a debt to the Commonwealth
arising from a repatriation or medical evacuation, except in
special circumstances. |
5.97 The Committee also recommends that the Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade put in place arrangements whereby,
with the agreement of the recipient, the debt incurred through
a repatriation or medical evacuation can be registered against
existing Government entitlements or added to the recipient's
future tax liability. |
Australians with Mental Illness
5.98 DFAT drew the Committee's attention to the problems of dealing with
cases of mentally ill travellers. DFAT was not able to indicate to the
Committee the number of cases of mentally ill travellers assisted by consular
officers as it is a longstanding principle of the Department that, 'because
consular officers at our overseas missions and posts are not professionally
qualified to offer opinions or to make judgements about the mental conditions
of their consular clients, Departmental records of consular cases do not
identify, even for statistical purposes, cases where psychiatric conditions
of Australian citizens may have been a relevant factor'. However, DFAT
stated that anecdotal evidence from experienced consular officers indicated
that a high proportion of consular repatriation cases involve persons
whose mental condition appears to be a significant or dominant problem.
[53] The time and resources needed to
assist these travellers is considerable.
5.99 DFAT also noted that some travellers have come repeatedly to the
attention of consular officials over long periods of time because of their
mental illness and gave the example of one traveller who had been repatriated
four times at Government expense and approximately four times at his family's
expense. This matter was also raised with the Committee in written submissions,
with the Arpke family submitting that a family member had for 12 years
been travelling to South East Asia only to be returned to Australia in
a poor medical condition, often with the assistance of consular officials.
[54]
5.100 The Schizophrenia Australia Foundation (SANE Australia) submitted
that there are three groups of mentally ill travellers:
- those who travel without problems and with the support of their
family and friends;
- those who travel because they are becoming ill and restlessness
is a symptom of emerging illness; and
- those who become ill because they travel due to stress, time and routine
changes, lack of and treatment particularly medication. [55]
DFAT also noted that a person's mental deterioration may be exacerbated
by the person's involvement with illicit drugs.
5.101 It is the travellers in the last two groups that come to the
attention of consular staff but as DFAT noted, usually not until some
problem has developed. Often the condition of a traveller who is mentally
ill will come to the attention of consular staff because a local health
authority has intervened or friends or fellow travellers are concerned
about the persons condition. As pointed out in evidence, those suffering
from mental illness will often not seek help for themselves because
they are already too ill or are perhaps suffering from a persecution
complex or are paranoid.
5.102 DFAT said that repatriation is not always required: in many cases,
people with mental problems often resolve them by resuming their medication
or seeking medical assistance. In some instances, travellers are admitted
to institutions for treatment and then are returned to Australia if
that is their wish or that of their next of kin.
5.103 When a traveller is repatriated to Australia, if required, DFAT
will arrange for a qualified person to escort the person home or a team
may come from Australia if a medical evacuation is needed. [56]
The payment of a return to Australia under these circumstances would have
to be met by the traveller from their own resources or through travel
insurance or by the traveller's family or friends. The Commonwealth would
only meet the expenses of the repatriation or medical evacuation of a
mentally ill traveller if they met the criteria and on the conditions
described in the section above.
5.104 Several issues were raised in evidence concerning mentally ill
travellers: the training of consular staff in dealing with mentally
ill travellers; the effects of the Privacy Act; and, measures to prevent
persons with mental illnesses from travelling.
5.105 SANE Australia noted the need to ensure that consular staff had
adequate training in the recognition and management of acute mental distress.
Mr Hamilton told the Committee that the consular training course included
a segment on mental illness. As part of the course, a visit is made to
an institution in Goulbourn where staff of the institution provide a briefing
'to try to bring them up to a basic level of understanding how to deal
with people who have such problems'. [57]
5.106 The implications of the Privacy Act on assisting mentally ill
travellers are discussed in Chapter 4.
5.107 The Arpke family raised the matter of the point at which consular
officials would intervene. They submitted that when they requested that
Mr Arpke be returned to Australia for medical assistance they were told
that he had merely to ask for assistance and they would return him to
Australia. [58] However, they pointed
out that if he were in a psychotic state he could not ask for help. Ms
Hocking of SANE Australia commented when someone has become mentally ill,
he or she may deny that anything is wrong, 'so it is a very tricky and
difficult situation to get help early, unless someone knows the person
well and is familiar with the surroundings they are in'. [59]
5.108 Families of people who suffer from mental illness and travel by
themselves overseas have sought the co-operation of DFAT in denying them
passports to prevent further overseas travel. In one case noted by DFAT,
the family of a traveller has refused to pay the costs of repatriation
of the traveller taking the view that 'the Government has a responsibility
to them and to [the traveller] to deny him access to the necessary travel
documents'. [60]
5.109 DFAT submitted that:
While the Department is sympathetic to these requests the Passport
Act does not provide for the withholding of a passport
on the grounds of mental illness. This issue was the subject of deliberations
by an Inter-Departmental Committee which concluded in 1979 that it was
neither feasible nor desirable for the Government to take any legislative
or administrative measures to overcome problems caused at overseas posts
by Australians suffering from mental illness. This policy was reviewed
and supported by relevant Departments (Attorney-General, Health, Social
Security, DFAT) in 1982. The Department's legal advisers continue of
the view that there is no role for passport administrators in determining
the eligibility of passport applicants in terms of mental health. [61]
DFAT suggested that family members of a person suffering from
a mental illness might try to prevent the person from travelling overseas
under a State/Territory Mental Health Act. In the absence of any determination
under a Mental Health Act, a passport would only be denied a traveller
if he or she had failed to reimburse the Commonwealth for the cost
of a previous repatriation. This, of course, would only occur when
the passport came due for reissue. However, the Arpke family told
the Committee that they had tried, unsuccessfully, to use the guardianship
law in NSW to stop their family member from travelling overseas.
5.110 Ms Barbara Hocking of SANE Australia said that there were no easy
solutions but there was a need to balance the rights of people whose illness
is well managed to travel freely, as opposed to the right to treatment
of people who are becoming ill or who have become ill while travelling.
As well, the rights of families to information and to have their social
and financial status maintained should be preserved. [62]
Ms Hocking suggested that people who have had one or more experiences
of repatriation on medical grounds, owing to a relapse of a pre-existing
mental illness, might be asked for a medical certificate/statement from
a practising medical practitioner before a passport or ticket is issued.
Such a statement would be to the effect that the person is able to travel
and is prepared with medication and that provision has been made for appropriate
support for the journey. A further suggestion from SANE was to make payment
of social security conditional on compliance with medication and other
treatment. This would require the implementation of a system of monitoring.
5.111 In evidence, Mr Graham Lamphee of the Department of Social Security
(DSS) stated that the Privacy Act also precluded the DSS from giving
out information about a person to a third person unless, for example,
the person has signed an authority for an agent to enquire. It would
be only in exceptional circumstances that information could be disclosed
under the public interest exemption under the Privacy Act. If a person,
who was in receipt of a disability support pension because of mental
illness, indicated to the DSS that they were going overseas, Mr Lamphee
stated:
We would just regard that as another customer going overseas.
The circumstances would have to be extremely unusual, I would suggest,
before we would be in a position to provide another authority or a next
of kin with a warning, if you like, that this client was going overseas.
There would have to be extremely exceptional circumstances. [63]
5.112 The Committee believes that the two measures (impoundment of
passport and debt recovery arrangements) recommended in relation to
the non-payment of the costs of repatriation and medical evacuation
should also apply to Australian travellers with a mental illness, whose
loan repayments should not be handled in a different way to that of
other Australians.
Return of Remains of Deceased Australians
Policy and practice
5.113 DFAT estimated that there were about 2,000 Australian citizens
(including dual nationals) who died overseas in 1994-95. Of these, DFAT
provided some degree of assistance in 643 cases.
5.114 When an Australian post overseas is notified of the death of
an Australian, the post cables details of the death to Canberra. If
the next of kin is not already aware of the death, DFAT arranges with
State police to notify the next of kin and to provide a consular contact
in the Department. DFAT submitted that:
The Department provides assistance on matters such as the arrangements
for the disposal of the remains, including quarantine clearances,
the return of personal possessions, as well as obtaining and forwarding
death certificates and police autopsy reports. Where the deceased
has an insurance policy for overseas travel, the company will normally
assume responsibility for the disposal of the remains ... [T]he Department
is sometimes asked to initiate or become involved in enquires concerning
the cause of death and to sort out problems associated with unpaid
medical bills.
Where practical, families are advised to contact an Australian
funeral director to make the necessary arrangements but Departmental
assistance is available if the funeral director should run into difficulties.
For the most part, entire reliance on an Australian funeral director
is practical only when the deaths occur in Western countries. Although
there are some exceptions, when the deaths occur in less developed
countries, most of the arrangements are made by consular officials
who will try to meet the wishes of the family as best they can. Often
the family's unfamiliarity with local practice (legal requirements,
time limits on the disposal of remains, and religious practices, for
example, no cremation in Islamic countries) makes decision-making
harrowing for families and friends and demands tact and patience on
the part of consular officers in Australia and overseas.
Where no next of kin can be located, and subject to any known
wishes of the deceased, the Department will arrange for an economical,
but dignified, disposal of remains locally at government expense. [64]
5.115 According to the Australian Consular Instructions, where DFAT arranges
and pays for the burial or cremation of a deceased Australian overseas,
the Department will seek to recover the costs involved from the estate
of the deceased. [65]
Cost of repatriation of human remains
5.116 When the death of an Australian overseas is covered by travel
insurance, most or all of the costs associated with burial or cremation
of the remains overseas or repatriation of the remains for burial or
cremation in Australia are borne by the insurance company. Mr Ken Maurer
of the Australian Funeral Directors Association (AFDA) told the Committee:
I know a lot of people do take out holiday insurance, but most
of the holiday insurance packages these days sit at about the $A5,000
mark that you are allowed for repatriation of human remains back to
Australia. You are flat out trying to retain that in places like Finland
and other places where deaths occur. [66]
5.117 Mr Maurer explained the nature of the costs involved in repatriating
human remains to Australia:
You have got a funeral director's charges to deliver the casket
to the airport, and that can vary depending on the type of coffin that
is used, and then you have the airfreight component. And airfreight
from Sydney to London is between $14 and $16 a kilo. With normal human
remains, embalmed in an ordinary wooden type container and wrapped in
a polythene container, you would be looking at an average weight of
roughly about 100 kilos. If you were to use zinc, you would add another
25 to 30 kilos. If you were to use lead you would be adding at least
another 80 to 90 kilos. By the time you multiply that out, the bottom
line becomes the airfreight. [67]
5.118 Mr Maurer said that a funeral director in Australia would prefer
to be contacted by DFAT or the family before arrangements for the repatriation
of the body have been finalised so that the Australian funeral director
could negotiate with his counterpart overseas to ensure that the client
is receiving the best price for the repatriation. He explained:
We get such frightening variations of costs that it is absolutely
alarming. With respect to one gentleman we had coming out of Paris,
they wanted about $US10,000 just to get him to the aircraft. We said,
'Excuse us, there's absolutely no way in the world we are going to entertain
that'. We went past the consulate and went directly to the funeral director,
using one of my secretaries who could speak fluent French ... She went
through the negotiations and we ended up getting the price down to about
four and a half thousand dollars. That bypassed the consulate scenario.
[68]
5.119 Problems sometimes arose when the deceased did not have travel
insurance and repatriation and funeral costs were the responsibility
of his or her family or estate. It has been incumbent on DFAT to inform
the family of the deceased of their financial responsibilities early
in their contact with them. DFAT drew the Committee's attention to the
fact that:
The bereaved family often expects government assistance with
the costs of the return of the body to Australia, which can amount to
anything up to $27,000. Some hospitals will not release a death certificate
until medical bills have been paid and financial assistance in this
respect is also sought on occasion. The need to elicit financial commitments
in the Department's early contacts with the families can generate an
impression of an unfeeling and mercenary government bureaucracy. [69]
Requirements for repatriation of human remains
5.120 Mr Foley told the Committee that it is better to contract a repatriation
service company rather than a funeral director overseas, where this is
possible. He said that the 'services they provide are purely an embalming
service to prepare the deceased and a shipping container that meets the
requirements of the airline'. He warned that these companies too charge
widely different rates for their services. [70]
5.121 Airline regulations require bodies to be embalmed before transhipment
by air. In some cases, however, a State Coroner may request a body to
be shipped to Australia without being embalmed so that the embalming
did not distort the results of an autopsy to be carried out in that
State. Autopsies, where they are required, are normally conducted in
the country where death occurred but sometimes a body might undergo
an autopsy in Australia, particularly where cause of death is uncertain
or where there are suspicious circumstances surrounding the death.
5.122 Both Mr Foley and Mr Maurer told the Committee that there is
no standardisation for the shipment of bodies, even in Australia. He
said that a body shipped to Heathrow from Adelaide or Melbourne is required
to be carried in a zinc container while one shipped to the same destination
from Sydney can be carried in polythene. Some countries require the
coffin to be placed in a wooden crate. Both of them favoured polythene,
which could be hermetically sealed and which was lighter and less expensive
than zinc or lead containers.
5.123 Mr Foley said that the Funeral and Allied Industries Union of New
South Wales prefers its members not to handle lead containers. Where lead
containers are used, the Union might insist on the transfer of the body
into a non-lead coffin. This still leaves the problem of disposing safely
of the lead containers. [71]
5.124 The Committee believes that there is scope for greater co-operation
between DFAT and the AFDA. Such co-operation would have benefit for
the Department by reducing consular involvement in the detail of arrangements
by involving funeral directors to a greater degree; by identifying members
of professional associations overseas who carry out work of a high standard;
by establishing a mechanism for exchange of information by members of
AFDA and consular officials; and by setting up points of contact in
case of a disaster overseas involving Australian nationals. Families
of deceased Australians would also benefit as early contact with a funeral
director, when arrangements are being made for the return of remains,
may assist in keeping costs down.
Access to Consular Assistance
After hours access at overseas posts
5.125 Consular problems are not restricted to business hours. Each
overseas post makes arrangements for a duty officer to attend to urgent
consular matters outside of business hours. Such arrangements cause
difficulties in small posts where there are few staff available for
rostering as after hours duty officer.
5.126 DFAT consultant, Mr McDonald, reported that:
The Department maintains a 24 hour communications operation
and is currently examining a Canadian system for a centralised emergency
number for consular inquiries which can be accessed from almost anywhere
in the world and to which after hours calls to posts can be diverted.
Such a scheme has attractions in terms of service to travellers,
improved coordination, consistency of advice and lowering overtime demands
on posts. It is the basis on which the travel insurance industry operates.
It would require the establishment of a 24 hour service in the Department,
linked through the Communications system, to replace the existing Duty
Officer arrangements. The resource implications would need to be evaluated
in terms of the existing availability of technology, potential savings
at posts and on Duty Officer overtime, and the benefits of improved
service to travellers. [72]
5.127 Mr McDonald went on to recommend that 'a study be undertaken of
the costs and benefits of the introduction of a 24 hour consular advisory
service in the Department linked with a centralised inquiry service relayed
from posts where the necessary technology exists'. [73]
5.128 Mr Thompson, Director, Consular Operations Section told the Committee
that the Canadian system:
is now being put in primarily for the reason of offering consistency
of service worldwide and to ensure that after hours calls are handled
by people who know what they are doing and are experienced with it.
They have been able to find that 99 per cent of calls after hours
can in fact be dealt with by, in their case, Ottawa. So we would say
we could deal with it in Canberra.
...
With a diminishing resource base which the Canadians had as well
they found that being relieved of those after-hours duties was the lifting
of a huge burden and welcomed very much by their posts. Weekend duty
is the most annoying part. You cannot even escape your job on the weekend.
I am sure that there are other people in that situation as well. But
it has been grasped by the Canadians and they have found that if anything
it has been cost neutral to them by the reduction of overtime and after-hours
call-outs and these sorts of costs that went with it. [74]
5.129 However, DFAT pointed out that the Canadians maintain a very comprehensive
network of 24-hour leased telephone lines so that there were no additional
costs imposed by the new centralised system. The introduction of a system
of switching calls to Canberra would impose costs on the Department both
for the phone lines and the allocation of an additional four people to
be on duty to fill the rotating shift arrangements to make it up to a
24-hour service. As well, DFAT indicated that there were technological
problems to be solved and that in some countries it was difficult to get
an international telephone connection. [75]
5.130 DFAT reported to the Committee in May 1997 that a trial of the
24 hour consular operations centre is expected to begin in late June
1997.
'008' number for DFAT
5.131 In a number of submissions the cost of keeping in contact with
the Department and overseas offices and agencies was raised. Although
it is not possible to subsidise the cost of overseas telephone calls,
the Committee believes that the Department should provide a free call
service for callers to the Consular Branch from within Australia.
5.132 The Committee recommends that DFAT establish a free call service
for callers to the Consular Branch from within Australia.
Consular Crisis Centre
5.133 The Department has established a Consular Crisis Centre. This
is activated to deal with major emergencies and natural disasters around
the world. In the event of a crisis, the resources of the Consular Operations
Section are mobilised and augmented by those of the Passport Inquiry
System and the computer resources of the Passport Information and Control
System (PICS). It also enables relatives to register their concern for
Australians travellers who might be in a particular disaster area. For
example, the Centre was activated after the January 1994 Los Angeles
earthquake. More than 6,000 calls were handled over three days. The
Crisis Centre is only activated in the event of a major disaster.
Travel Insurance
5.134 DFAT and the Insurance Council of Australia told the Committee
that about 30 per cent of Australian travellers overseas are uninsured.
This group includes travellers who do not see the need for travel insurance,
those that are not eligible for travel insurance because they are travelling
for more than one year as most policies are limited to one year duration,
those that have a pre-existing medical condition and those who are deterred
by the cost of insurance. Mr Fisher also pointed out that some travellers
to the United Kingdom do not take out insurance because they are covered
by the UK National Health system. They may have cover while travelling
in the UK, but such insurance does not apply to travel to and from the
UK. The Insurance Council of Australia also pointed out that private
health insurance in Australia provides very little cover, if any, for
medical expenses incurred overseas.
5.135 Further, travellers who have taken out insurance may not be covered
while overseas because of the exclusion clauses contained in the policy.
For example, the policy may not cover accidents which occur while undertaking
certain recreational activities or where claims are due to civil commotion
or war-like activities. [76]
5.136 Mr Fisher told the Committee that 'the fact that travelling numbers
have gone up so steadily but that the amount of consular work ... has
not gone up so geometrically is due to the expansion of travel insurance'.
[77] However, if problems arise for
a traveller who does not have travel insurance, consular officers may
have to expend significant time and resources assisting the traveller.
A medical evacuation arranged by Austrade for an uninsured traveller took
20 days to be organised and involved the consular officer in many activities
from hospital visits to negotiation of the price of air travel.
5.137 Mr Fisher indicated that travel insurance is an issue raised
by departmental officers in seminars with the travel industry. He noted
that some of the bigger travel agencies have a 90 per cent coverage
by travel insurance and with many now requiring clients to sign a waiver
to indicate that travel insurance was offered by the agency but explicitly
declined. The Australian Federation of Travel Agents said that it now
recommends to members that clients who decline insurance should sign
a waiver.
5.138 The need to provide insurance coverage to some groups currently
excluded has been recognised. The Federation stated that it had identified
the need to offer insurance over an extended period of time to backpackers.
The Federation has been working with the insurance industry to establish
a system where a traveller can register in a foreign country to have their
insurance extended. [78] The Committee
believes that such extended cover should be made available to people undertaking
extensive travel overseas.
5.139 Although the proportion of travellers covered by insurance has
increased, there will always be some people who are not covered, including
some excluded from coverage and who, when difficulties are encountered,
will require consular assistance. The Committee recommends that the
Department should continue, with the travel industry, to highlight the
need for adequate insurance cover for travellers. Further, the Department
should consider seeking the co-operation of the Insurance Council of
Australia in providing briefings on travel insurance issues during consular
training programs.
Communication with Families
5.140 The issue of the level, type and nature of communication between
DFAT and families of Australians in receipt of consular assistance abroad
was raised during the inquiry.
5.141 The Committee received some expressions of gratitude for the
help and support provided by consular staff. For example, the father
of a young man imprisoned overseas expressed his gratitude to the consular
officers, both in Canberra and overseas, for their assistance and for
the many phone calls to the family after consular visits to their son.
5.142 DFAT officers not only maintain telephone contact with families
but also visit the families. Following the kidnapping of Ms Kellie Wilkinson,
the Consular Desk Officer visited Mrs Gabrielle Wilkinson in Caloundra,
Queensland. Consular officers had almost daily contact with Mrs Wilkinson
over the months that followed and Senator Evans also made contact on
several occasions. Similarly, in the case of Mr David Wilson, a consular
officer visited the family on the day after it was confirmed that David
had been abducted. Senator Evans also briefed Mrs Young (David's mother)
and Mr Peter Wilson (David's father) on developments in the case.
5.143 However, criticisms were also leveled at consular officers about
their attitude to families, the amount of information provided, the
way in which information was provided and the amount of guidance offered
to families.
5.144 The Lindner family submitted that families should be allowed to
nominate more than one member of the family, living at the contact address,
to be a spokesperson at any time. Dr Lindner argued that the usual
DFAT practice of having only one person nominated in a household was an
unnecessary restriction that could lead to further distress, for example,
when the nominated person was having difficulty coping with the situation.
[79] The Committee notes that DFAT does
maintain more than one contact when there are divided families or there
are other reasons for information not being passed on. However, DFAT should
give consideration to having a second contact in a household.
5.145 The Lindner family also commented on the lack of help received
from DFAT when they attempted to contact Interpol concerning the disappearance
of Mr David Lindner in Iran. The Maresh family voiced disquiet about
contacting the AFP on DFAT's advice only to be told by the AFP that
DFAT was the appropriate agency to address their concerns. The Committee
believes that, in a consular case, if officers think that a person should
be referred to another agency in relation to some aspect of the case,
the officer should initiate the contact on behalf of the person. It
depends, of course, on the circumstances, but in the Maresh and Lindner
cases, neither should not have been required to contact the AFP to involve
Interpol.
5.146 Mr Peter Wilson indicated to the Committee that initially the consular
officer 'did a pretty good job' but as the case progressed his concerns
were not listened to in a sympathetic manner. Further, the family was
not kept informed by DFAT of all events. [80]
His son, Tim Wilson, noted that a great deal of the information they
received was through the media.
5.147 DFAT stated that it did not believe that it was in the best interests
of the families involved in situations such as the David Wilson hostage
crisis to pass on every piece of information. Much information was unsubstantiated
and proved to be incorrect or misleading. With the two cases that occurred
in Cambodia, even information received through official channels was unreliable
and in the Kellie Wilkinson case information that the hostages were still
alive was sometimes generated by the Khmer Rouge in order to confuse investigators
and extort money. It was also possible that some of the reports containing
positive information were 'derived from a culturally based desire to be
the bearer of good tidings'. [81]
5.148 It is only natural for families to crave information about their
family members. Although DFAT's desire to pass on only substantiated
news is understandable, this is often not enough for distressed families.
In the David Wilson case, this practice raised questions about DFAT's
motives in the minds of some family members and only served to heighten
tensions in their relations with the Department.
5.149 As a number of Australian journalists were covering the hostage
crisis in Cambodia, news bulletins were being filed and presented almost
daily in the print and electronic media. The Wilson family claimed they
were receiving more information about developments in Cambodia from
the media than was received from DFAT. It is therefore understandable
that the Wilson family thought that DFAT should have provided more information
than it did. The Committee believes that DFAT should at least have informed
the family about information being disseminated through the media and
adding their qualifications about its reliability. Inevitably, the family
would want to obtain DFAT's assessment of the information. By not providing
or commenting on to the family information freely available through
the media it only reinforced their concerns about the handling of the
case.
5.150 The Maresh family listed several complaints about their experience
of Government agencies. These are discussed in Chapter 8. However, as
a general comment, consular officers have to be very careful to avoid
as far as possible any misinterpretation of their message on the part
of the people to whom they are talking. The Committee understands that
consular officers are under a great deal of stress themselves when dealing
with families involved in consular cases and often must ask questions
and bring up matters such as costs of return of remains or other services
which may appear callous and uncaring to the family involved. They also
have to be very sensitive to the concerns of grieving or distressed
families. Although the Committee received some criticism of assistance
provided by consular officers, the Committee believes that overall consular
officers provide a very good service to the travelling public and their
families in Australia within the constraints imposed on them.
Counselling
5.151 The Committee received clear evidence of the trauma and grief
suffered by families and others involved in cases where there has been
a death overseas or other distressing event involving a family member.
Some families in these circumstances spoke of the need for counselling
services to be provided.
5.152 The Department has, in the past, sought to help families contact
counselling services, generally as a result of requests for counselling
rather than as a general policy of offering information about counselling
services to distressed families. The Department submitted that it recognises
there may be a requirement for counselling services for some families
among the many cases it deals with annually. Mr Hamilton then went on
to say:
I think it would be reasonable to ask whether the Department
has a core competence ... in this area. Clearly I do not think we have,
as currently established. The question then of whether we should lead
people to counselling is obviously one that arises. It is a direction
that we would like to go in but we have found some difficulties with
it because the reaction of people when you ask them if they need counselling
is not always positive. That is one difficulty. Another one is that,
on those few occasions when we have tried this, people actually have
not really taken it up. So we have another difficulty that it does not
actually seem to be quite right. [82]
He went on to say that although a mechanism for referring families
to counsellors has been considered, 'it is not an easy question or issue
for us to resolve' but 'probably the best thing we can do is to finally
negotiate a form of words that we will use for everybody and hope that
we do not get too much criticism for suggesting that people might be
in need of psychological counselling'. [83]
5.153 The Department's consultant, Mr Tim McDonald, also addressed this
issue, noting that the focus of consular services has been on Australians
overseas, their families at home being a secondary consideration. However,
he concluded 'I think in today's age the question of the welfare of the
family has to be taken much more seriously. Importantly, the problem does
not end when the person overseas dies.' [84]
5.154 The Maresh family suggest that a DFAT officer with counselling
skills speak immediately with the deceased's family to begin to document
the circumstances surrounding the death, offer assistance to the family
and 'when an Australian citizen dies overseas in traumatic circumstances,
the DFAT should offer counselling'. [85]
5.155 The trauma and grief experienced by families in these circumstances
and the sometimes inexplicable circumstances in which a death has occurred
contribute to a great sense of loss of control. Family members in these
circumstances are likely to respond to the high levels of anxiety which
may also affect their relationship with consular officers and ultimately
the way in which they view the assistance provided. The Committee agrees
with Mrs Maresh that families in such circumstances should be referred
to counsellors experienced in dealing with such stress in order to assist
with their loss. In Mrs Maresh's words this would 'Assist them to help
with their pain and suffering'. [86]
5.156 The Committee considers that it would not be appropriate for
DFAT to provide counsellors. Furthermore, it would be more appropriate
for families to receive counselling from a local counsellor. The Committee
understands that State and Territory Governments and Coroners' Offices
have counselling facilities.
Accordingly, the Committee recommends that DFAT
should negotiate with State and Territory Governments and with
the Coroners to make arrangements for grieving or distressed
families in their respective States and Territories to have
access to their counselling services. DFAT should also maintain
a list of private counsellors to provide to families. |
5.157 The Committee also notes that the Department provides counselling
services for staff. Consular staff have a very heavy workload, dealing
with stressful situations and anxious and grieving families. During
1994 and 1995, for example, the consular section dealt with the kidnapping
of Ms Kellie Wilkinson and Mr David Wilson, judicial proceedings involving
Mr James Peng, Dr John Flynn and Mr Robert Bowra and the death
of Mr Ben Maresh as well dealing with many other cases.
5.158 In such situations staff are placed under tremendous personal
stress. The Department has been working toward implementing a more formal
approach to counselling services for consular staff. Staff will receive
training in dealing with stressful situations and also in dealing with
their own stress that results from the type of work they undertake.
5.159 The Committee recommends that the Department
should institute a formal counselling program of consular officers
as soon as possible. The intensity of the work, the level of
contact with families and the difficult situations that are
dealt with can result in significant stresses. It is the responsibility
of the Department to ensure that there are avenues for staff
to seek assistance in dealing with this. |
Footnotes
[1] Mr M J Costello, letter to the Committee
dated 30 October 1995.
[2] Committee Hansard, p. 281.
[3] Mr Tim McDonald, Measures which the
Australian Government Might Take to Improve the Handling of Consular
Matters, September 1995, included in the DFAT submission, p. 90.
[4] Austrade submission, p. 5.
[5] Austrade submission, p. 7.
[6] Mr S McDonald submission, p. 2.
[7] Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Annual
Review of Consular Work 1996-96, p. 3.
[8] Mr Tim McDonald, op cit, pp 90-1.
[9] Mr Tim McDonald, op cit, p. 91.
[10] Fees for legal process are specified
in the Consular Fees Regulations under the Consular Fees Act 1955
and are payable for a consular act other than a consular act performed
at the request, and for the purposes, of the government of a foreign
country. Fees range from $5 for marking an exhibit to an affidavit or
declaration in writing to $25 for each hour or part of an hour spent
in taking evidence under a commission or order from a court.
[11] Committee Hansard, p. 11.
[12] Committee Hansard, p. 471.
[13] Committee Hansard, pp 210, 216.
[14] Mrs N Sheridan submission, p. 2.
[15] Committee Hansard, p. 654.
[16] Committee Hansard, p. 654.
[17] Mr T Wilson submission, p. 38.
[18] Committee Hansard, p. 258.
[19] DFAT answers to questions on notice,
1 May 1997.
[20] Committee Hansard, p. 322.
[21] DFAT submission, p. 75.
[22] DFAT submission, p. 75.
[23] Committee Hansard, p. 473.
[24] Committee Hansard, p. 473.
[25] Committee Hansard, p. 165.
[26] Committee Hansard, p. 471.
[27] DFAT submission, p. 78.
[28] Committee Hansard, p. 467.
[29] DFAT submission, footnote, p. 76 (DFAT
'told by Fantasia that some 90% of travel agents have on line access
to these systems')
[30] Committee Hansard, p. 465.
[31] DFAT submission, p. 76.
[32] Committee Hansard, p. 212.
[33] Committee Hansard, pp 219-20.
[34] Committee Hansard, p. 215.
[35] Committee Hansard, p. 465.
[36] DFAT submission, p. 77.
[37] DFAT submission, pp 77-8.
[38] Committee Hansard, p. 610.
[39] DFAT submission, p. 67.
[40] DFAT submission, p. 68.
[41] Austrade submission, p. 8.
[42] DFAT submission, p. 97.
[43] Committee Hansard, pp 490, 492.
[44] DFAT submission, p. 97.
[45] Committee Hansard, p. 490.
[46] Committee Hansard, p. 491.
[47] DFAT submission, pp 68-9.
[48] DFAT submission, p. 69.
[49] Committee Hansard, p. 18.
[50] Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and
Trade Legislation Committee, Examination of Additional Estimates
1994-95, Additional Information Received, Vol. 1, p. 163.
[51] DFAT submission, p. 69.
[52] DFAT submission, p. 69.
[53] DFAT letter to the Committee dated,
7 April 1997.
[54] Arpke submission, p. 1.
[55] SANE Australia submission, p. 1.
[56] Committee Hansard, p. 21.
[57] Committee Hansard, p. 22.
[58] Arpke submission, p. 2.
[59] Committee Hansard, p. 585.
[60] DFAT submission, p. 70.
[61] DFAT submission, p. 70.
[62] Committee Hansard, p. 584.
[63] Committee Hansard, p. 447.
[64] DFAT submission, pp 22-3.
[65] Australian Customs Instructions,
Part 1, paragraph 22.9.4.
[66] Committee Hansard, p. 197.
[67] Committee Hansard, p. 194.
[68] Committee Hansard, p. 195.
[69] DFAT submission, p. 23.
[70] Committee Hansard, p. 195.
[71] Committee Hansard, p. 194.
[72] Mr Tim McDonald, op cit, p. 93.
[73] Mr Tim McDonald, op cit, p. 93.
[74] Committee Hansard, p. 15.
[75] Committee Hansard, pp 15-6, 479.
[76] Committee Hansard, p. 596.
[77] Committee Hansard, p. 13.
[78] Committee Hansard, p. 211.
[79] Committee Hansard, p. 226.
[80] Committee Hansard, pp 146-7.
[81] DFAT submission, p. 26
[82] Committee Hansard, p. 334.
[83] Committee Hansard, p. 334.
[84] Committee Hansard, p. 284.
[85] Mrs D Maresh submission, p. 8.
[86] Mrs D Maresh submission, p. 8.