Commonwealth Numbered Acts

MIGRATION AMENDMENT ACT 1991 No. 86, 1991 - SECT 14

14. After Division 4 of Part 2 the following Division is inserted:
         "Division 4A - Unprocessed persons
Processing areas

"54A. The Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, nominate areas to
which unprocessed persons may be taken for the purposes of section 54B.
Unprocessed persons

"54B. (1) If:

   (a)  an authorised officer reasonably supposes that a person would, on
        entry to Australia, become an illegal entrant; and

   (b)  in the authorised officer's opinion, it is impracticable or
        inconvenient to decide immediately whether or not to grant the person
        an entry permit (whether or not the person has applied for an entry
        permit); the following provisions have effect:

   (c)  the person becomes an unprocessed person;

   (d)  at the direction of an authorised officer, the person may be removed:

   (i)  from the vessel on which the person travelled to Australia; or

   (ii) if the person has disembarked at a proclaimed airport but has not left
        the airport - from the airport;

   (e)  at the direction of an authorised officer, the person may be taken to
        a processing area.

"(2) The unprocessed person:

   (a)  is taken not to enter Australia unless he or she is granted an entry
        permit; and

   (b)  if he or she is granted an entry permit - is taken to enter Australia
        when he or she first leaves the processing area after being granted
        the permit.

"(3) Within 7 days after an unprocessed person is taken to a processing area,
an authorised officer may cause a written notice to be served on the master,
owner, agent or charterer of the vessel on which the unprocessed person
travelled to Australia to the effect that, if the unprocessed person becomes a
prohibited person, the master, owner, agent and charterer of the vessel:

   (a)  may be required under subsection 54F (2) of this Act to remove the
        person from Australia at no cost to the Commonwealth, whether or not
        the person is able or willing to pay, or agrees to pay, a charge for
        his or her removal from Australia; and

   (b)  may be liable under section 54E of this Act to pay to the
        Commonwealth:

   (i)  the cost of transporting the person and a custodian of the person to a
        processing area, or from one processing area to another; and

   (ii) the daily maintenance amount for each custody day until the person is
        removed from Australia; and

   (iii) the cost of transporting the person and a custodian of the person
        from the processing area or the place where the person has been kept
        in custody to the vessel on which the person is to leave Australia.
        Restraint of unprocessed persons

"54C. An officer may:

   (a)  keep an unprocessed person in custody until the person has been
        transported to a processing area or while the person is being
        transported from one processing area to another; and

   (b)  prevent an unprocessed person from leaving a processing area until he
        or she:

   (i)  is granted an entry permit; or

   (ii) becomes a prohibited person; whichever happens first. Prohibited
        persons

"54D. An unprocessed person becomes a prohibited person if the person:

   (a)  gives a written request to leave Australia to an authorised officer;
        or

   (b)  does not apply for an entry permit before the end of the prescribed
        period; or

   (c)  is refused an entry permit. Maintenance of prohibited persons

"54E. (1) If an unprocessed person becomes a prohibited person, the master,
owner, agent and charterer of the vessel on which the person travelled to
Australia are jointly and severally liable to pay the Commonwealth:

   (a)  the cost of transporting the person and a custodian of the person to
        the processing area, or from one processing area to another; and

   (b)  the daily maintenance amount for each custody day until the person is
        removed from Australia; and

   (c)  the cost of transporting the person and a custodian of the person from
        the processing area or the place where he or she is being kept in
        custody to the vessel on which the prohibited person is to leave
        Australia.

"(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the master, owner, agent or charterer of
the vessel if the master, owner, agent or charterer was not given a notice
under subsection 54B (3) in relation to the prohibited person within 7 days
after the prohibited person was first taken to a processing area as an
unprocessed person. Removal of prohibited persons

"54F. (1) A prohibited person:

   (a)  must be removed from Australia as soon as practicable; and

   (b)  may be kept in custody as directed by an authorised officer until
        removed from Australia.

"(2) When an unprocessed person becomes a prohibited person, an authorised
officer may, by written notice served on the master, owner, agent or charterer
of the vessel on which the person travelled to Australia, require the master,
owner, agent or charterer to remove the person from Australia at no cost to
the Commonwealth, whether or not the person is able or willing to pay, or
agrees to pay, a charge for his or her removal from Australia.

"(3) The master, owner, agent or charterer must:

   (a)  give reasonable notice to an authorised officer of his or her
        willingness to receive the prohibited person on board a specified
        vessel, at a specified place and time, for removal from Australia,
        being a time not later than 72 hours after the notice was served; and

   (b)  if the prohibited person is made available in the custody of an
        officer at that place and time - remove the prohibited person from
        Australia at no cost to the Commonwealth, whether or not the
        prohibited person is able or willing to pay, or agrees to pay, a
        charge for his or her removal from Australia. Penalty: $10,000.

"(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to the master, owner, agent or charterer
unless:

   (a)  a notice under subsection 54B (3) in relation to the prohibited person
        was served on one of them within 7 days after the person was first
        taken to a processing area as an unprocessed person; and

   (b)  a notice under subsection (2) of this section in relation to
        the person was served on one of them.

"(5) Failure to serve a notice in relation to a person under subsection (2) of
this section or subsection 54B (3) does not prevent the person from being
removed from Australia in accordance with arrangements made by an authorised
officer. Officers' powers of arrest

"54G. An officer may:

   (a)  without warrant, arrest an unprocessed person or a prohibited person
        who:

   (i)  leaves a processing area:

                (A)  without being required to do so by an authorised officer;
                     or

                (B)  without having been given written permission by an
                     authorised officer to be temporarily absent from the
                     processing area for a prescribed purpose; or

   (ii) having been given written permission by an authorised officer to be
        temporarily absent from a processing area for a prescribed purpose,
        refuses or fails to return to the processing area before the end of
        that period of temporary absence; or

   (iii) escapes from custody; and

   (b)  take the person to the processing area, or keep the person in custody,
        as directed by an authorised officer. Daily maintenance amount

"54H. (1) For the purposes of this Division, the Minister may, by notice
published in the Gazette, determine, in relation to each State and Territory,
a daily maintenance amount in relation to the State or Territory.

"(2) In making a determination under subsection (1) in respect of a State or
Territory, the Minister must have regard to the cost to the Commonwealth of
persons kept in custody in that State or Territory on behalf of the
Commonwealth.

"(3) An amount payable to the Commonwealth under this Division may be
recovered by the Commonwealth, as a debt due to the Commonwealth, in a court
of competent jurisdiction.

"(4) In this Division: `custody day', in relation to a person, means a day
during the whole of which the person is or was in custody, or in a processing
area, or partly in custody and partly in a processing area; `daily maintenance
amount', in relation to a custody day in relation to a person, means the daily
maintenance amount most recently determined by the Minister under subsection
(1) before that day, in relation to the State or Territory in which the person
was, on that day, in custody, or in a processing area, or partly in custody
and partly in a processing area; `day' means a period of 24 hours ending at
midnight.".