Health waivers for Humanitarian visa entrants
Dear Australian Border Force,
I would like to request the following statistics under the Freedom of Information Act.
Background:
In July 2012, changes were made to the policy for Refugee and Humanitarian Visas (Class XB) that provided that when determining the "health requirements" for applicants under the Refugee and Humanitarian Program (Public Interest Criteria 4007), "no costs are to be considered undue". This has the affect of people receiving a "health waiver" under PIC 4007. I would like to know the numbers of people receiving health waivers and in particular the numbers from Syria and Iraq.
Request:
Please provide statistics on number of people who arrived through the Refugee and Humanitarian Program (Class XB) that received a health waiver under Public Interest Criteria 4007. Please provide these statistics by financial year from July 1 2020 until the latest available date. Please provide a breakdown of these statistics by visa subclass and by country of origin.
Yours faithfully,
Professor Angela Dew
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Information updated 11 January 2022
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OFFICIAL: Sensitive
Personal-Privacy
Dear Angela Dew
The Department of Home Affairs (the Department) has received your request
for data of 24 August 2023. Your reference number for this request is
DA23/08/00308.
The Department of Home Affairs provides a Data Channel for data requests
such as yours which enables Departmental (including the Australian Border
Force) data to be purchased. While you have lodged a request under the
FOI Act, Section 12(1)(c) of the FOI Act states that a person is not
entitled to access to a document that is available for purchase by the
public in accordance with arrangements made by an agency. As such we
intend to process this request under the Department’s Data Request process
unless you respond to this correspondence requesting a decision on your
request under the FOI Act.
You can find further information about the Data Channel here: [1]Data
requests (homeaffairs.gov.au)
The Department has interpreted your request as follows:
· Please provide statistics on number of people who arrived through
the Refugee and Humanitarian Program (Class XB) that received a health
waiver under Public Interest Criteria 4007. Please provide these
statistics by financial year from July 1 2020 until the latest available
date. Please provide a breakdown of these statistics by visa subclass and
by country of origin.
If we have misinterpreted your request, please let us know by emailing
[2][ABF request email] quoting the above reference number so we can
reassess your request.
Charge for access
The Department has calculated that a charge of $90.00 is required for your
request.
Next Steps
You can now choose to:
· pay the attached invoice for your request to proceed;
· email [3][ABF request email] to tell us if your request has
been incorrectly interpreted; or
· email [4][ABF request email] to tell us if you wish to withdraw
your request.
Your request will not be processed until you take one of these actions.
Please note: if you do not respond by 13 September 2023 your request will
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Your request for a waiver or reduction of charge will be considered, and a
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If you have any feedback about our handling of your data request, please
email [6][ABF request email]
Thank you for your data request. I look forward to your response.
Kind regards
FOI Officer - Jade
Freedom of Information
Department of Home Affairs
E: [7][ABF request email]
Personal-Privacy
OFFICIAL: Sensitive
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Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
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References
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2. mailto:[ABF request email]
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4. mailto:[ABF request email]
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6. mailto:[ABF request email]
7. mailto:[ABF request email]
OFFICIAL
Dear Angela Dew,
I am writing to notify you of my decision in relation to your data request
DA 23/08/00308.
The Department of Home Affairs (the Department) has not received a
response, or payment of the invoice issued to you with the acknowledgment
of your data request. As advised in the options that were provided, the
Department must receive a response with 14 days or your request is closed
in all departmental systems.
Your request has now been closed and the invoice cancelled. Please do not
attempt to pay the invoice.
Should you wish to resubmit your data request please visit our Data
Request webpage at:
[1]https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/access-an...
Kind regards
Position number: 60176114
Freedom of Information
FOI Officer – Data Channel | Freedom of Information Section
Privacy FOI & Records Management Branch | Legal Group
Department Of Home Affairs
E: [2][ABF request email]
OFFICIAL
Important Notice: The content of this email is intended only for use by
the individual or entity to whom it is addressed. If you have received
this email by mistake, please advise the sender and delete the message and
attachments immediately. This email, including attachments, may contain
confidential, sensitive, legally privileged and/or copyright information.
Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of this information
by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited.
The Department of Home Affairs, the ABF and the National Emergency
Management Agency respect your privacy and have obligations under the
Privacy Act 1988.
Unsolicited commercial emails MUST NOT be sent to the originator of this
email.
References
Visible links
1. https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/access-an...
2. mailto:[ABF request email]