The Albanese government will attempt to turn the tables on people making unmeritorious asylum claims by shifting to a “last in, first out” application processing system.
The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, will announce a $160m package to tackle the backlog of asylum claims, including $54m to prioritise processing new claims, an attempt to break the business model of those suggesting junk claims as a means to remain in Australia.
The Nixon review, released on Wednesday, found that people traffickers and those seeking to exploit migrants are taking advantage of the refugee protection system because claims can grant up to a decade in Australia.
That is due to a 2.4-year average processing time for claims, a further 3.6 years for merits review and three to five for judicial review.
In January Guardian Australia reported that the Refugee Council was concerned that a massive backlog for processing and review of asylum claims was creating an incentive for unmeritorious applications.
The government claims it can process new claims in as fast as seven weeks for genuine refugees, and that “real-time” processing starting with the latest applications will be fairer without harming those already in the queue.
The government will spend $58m to hire 10 new members of the administrative appeals tribunal, in addition to the 93 appointments made in the last fortnight, and 10 federal circuit judges, to work with the 21 who now judge migration matters. It will also invest $48m in legal assistance services.
Giles said the Nixon review had “unearthed a rampant lack of integrity in our migration system which went unchecked in the six years Peter Dutton was in charge of immigration”.
He cited the fact 140,000 people arrived in Australia and claimed asylum onshore under the former Coalition government. Approximately 90% of people who lodge protection visa applications are found not to be owed protection.
“After years of Liberals turning a blind eye to exploitation of the visa system, the Albanese Labor government is taking action to fix the mess we inherited, and reform the migration system to prevent future exploitation,” Giles said.
“Crucially, these reforms will ensure that those found to be owed Australia’s protection will have access to quicker and fairer assessment of their claims, allowing them to rebuild their lives with certainty and stability.”
David Manne, the executive director of Refugee Legal, said the reforms were “at their heart commonsense and fair”.
Manne said it was “critical” that the Department of Home Affairs both increase efficiency of processing for new cases “so they don’t build on the extraordinary backlog of the last decade” while building capacity to process applications “of those people waiting for years on end”.
“This has the real potential to significantly address the backlog and repair the system.”
Manne described legal assistance as a “significant step” because access to justice was “fundamental” to fair and efficient processing of visas and would “reduce delays and burden on the decision-makers”.
On Wednesday Dutton refuted suggestions he was weak on compliance and accused Labor of showing “no capacity to make the tough decisions to keep our borders safe”.
Dutton claimed that Labor had “presided over 105,000 asylum seekers [in Australia] over the course of the last 15 months – a record number in our country”, despite the fact many of those arrived under the Coalition and had been in Australia for many years.
