Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019

Brief

A research into the ‘character requirement’, which has become topical in light of the Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019, and a submission to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee expressing ideas and concerns about the Bill, especially relating to the wording ‘knowingly concerned’ that is used in the Bill and that is, in our opinion, a novel term to be used in the context of crimes that would enliven visa cancellation by the Bill. In this research we were trying to find out whether a shift from the sentence-based approach to the ‘maximal penalty'(which has not even been applied by the sentencing judge) approach in mandatory visa cancellation is a violation of the right to liberty.

Timeline