Chapter One - Annual Reports of Government Departments
1.1
The following reports of government departments for the
financial year 2003-2004 were referred to the Committee for examination and
report:
- the Attorney General's Department; and
- the Department of Immigration and Multicultural
and Indigenous Affairs.
Attorney General's Department
1.2
The Secretary's Review in the Department's annual
report advises of a number of areas in which the Department has been active
over the reporting period. The Secretary's Review indicates that the Department
has invested a great deal of time and effort in ensuring its ability to
participate fully in whole of Government responses to a range of challenges,
most particularly in the field of national security.
1.3
The Committee notes the growth in staff numbers within
the Department to over 840 full time positions as at 1 July 2004, a gain of more than 120 positions
over the previous year.
1.4
Throughout the reporting period, the Criminal Justice
Division and the Information and Security Law Division worked on a range of
legislative instruments in the areas of national security, anti-terrorism and
telecommunications interception. This included legislation such as:
- the Criminal
Code Amendment (Terrorist Organisations) Act 2004 (Cth);
- the Criminal
Code amendment (Hamas and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba) Act 2003 (Cth);
- the Anti-terrorism
Act 2004 (Cth); and
- the Surveillance Devices Bill 2004.
1.5
The Department's Protective Security Coordination
Centre organised the Mercury 04
terrorism exercise which saw 16 Australian Federal, State and Territory
agencies respond to a series of fictional terrorist incidents throughout the
country. Agencies responded to incidents in Darwin,
Adelaide, Melbourne
and Hobart, and to an attack on an
off-shore oil and gas facility off Australia's
north-west coast.
1.6
The Office of International Law provided legal services
and advice concerning a number of issues in a range of areas. For example, the
Office assisted in negotiations of the Australia-US and the Thailand-Australia
Free Trade Agreements, and:
...provided sound policy and legal advice on a wide range of
matters being considered at the UN Commission on Human Rights.[4]
1.7
The Committee notes the statement from the Australian
National Audit Office in its audit report that:
...in prior years, the department did not maintain adequate
accounts and records in resect of payments against the special appropriations
made under the National Firearms
Implementation Act 1998, the Law
Officers Act 1964, and the High Court
Justices (Long Leave Payments) Act 1979.[5]
1.8
The Committee also notes that appropriate steps have
been taken by the department to ensure that the breaches of the Financial Management and Accountability Act
1997 mentioned above will not recur.
1.9
The Committee considers the annual report of the
Attorney-General's Department to be "apparently satisfactory."
Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
1.10 The
Secretary's Review in the Department's annual report advises of the continued
rise in the number of visa grants within the Migration Program. The number of
visas granted through the program exceeded 114,000, the highest in over a
decade.
1.11 The
Department implemented a number of key initiatives in response to a whole-of-government
strategy designed to combat people trafficking. Initiatives included:
- an extended visa regime that provided for a
person who assists with investigations and/or prosecutions of people
trafficking matters to remain in Australia with access to victim support. Two
new visas came into effect on 1 January 2004:
- a Bridging F Visa (BVF) which enables a stay of
an initial period of 30 days (with intensive case management support) while law
enforcement authorities decide if a longer stay is required. Ten BVFs have been
granted;
- a witness protection (Trafficking) visa which
enables a person to remain in Australia temporarily or permanently where they
have assisted with an investigation of prosecution and may be at personal risk
if they return to their home country.[6]
1.12 The
Migration Amendment (Identification and
Authentication) Act 2004 is seen by the Department as an important
initiative, involving the use of biometric data to assist in establishing the
identity of persons wishing to enter Australia.
The Department noted that this:
... also allows Australia
to keep pace with technological developments being implemented in other
countries such as the USA,
and EU Member States.'[7]
1.13 On
15 April 2004 the
government announced its intention to abolish the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Commission and to transfer indigenous programs to other Departments
and Agencies. The Department's Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Affairs (OATSIA) provided advice on a range of other reforms such as:
- the establishment of Indigenous Coordination
Centres to enhance service delivery to Indigenous communities;
- the establishment of a Ministerial Taskforce to
oversee coordination of Indigenous Policy and program delivery; and
- the establishment of the Office on Indigenous
Policy Coordination.[8]
1.14 The
Committee considers the annual report of the Department of Immigration,
Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs to be "apparently satisfactory."