Commissioner Outram said this in response to Senator Nick McKim's questions at the public hearing of the Select Committee on COVID-19 on Tuesday, where Senator McKim pointed out how he had been approached by several people who remained separated due Australia’s border closures.
Senator McKim told the Committee and the ABF Commissioner how an Indian family – with mother in Melbourne and father and child in India – had recently sought exemption on compassionate grounds but were rejected.
He also pointed out how he had received requests for assistance and help from over 100 individuals who had applied for travel exemption but were rejected by the ABF.
To this, the ABF Commissioner said he will review the administrative guidance set out for assessing such applications.
“I will review guidelines in relation to families,” Commissioner Outram told the Select Committee on COVID-19.
“I will review the administrative guidance. I give you that commitment. We are in any event, undertaking regular quality assurance reviews of the decisions that have been made and of course, the ultimate delegate for this, is me, as an Australian Border Force Commissioner, but I am getting assistance from delegates from the Department of Home Affairs and Australian Border Force in relation to managing inbound and outbound exemption processes. And I will give you that commitment to undertake that review,” he said.
Listen to Senator McKim’s question and Commissioner Outram’s response:
LISTEN TO
Australian Border Force to review guidelines set for granting travel exemption on compassionate grounds
SBS Hindi
18/08/202003:12
افسران دریایی ارتش آسترالیا در حال کمک با یک خانواده که از هند به آسترالیا برگشتهاند. Source: AAP
According to the latest figures provided to SBS Hindi, the ABF has received more than 87,000 requests for travel exemptions since the borders were shut on March 20, 2020.
‘As at 31 July 2020, over 87,600 travel exemption requests have been received for travel exemptions to Australia. A request may cover more than one person,’ a spokesperson from the Australian Border Force told SBS Hindi.
Out of 10,440 individuals approved to enter Australia till June 22, only 1740 individuals were approved exemption on compassionate ground. 311 applicants were granted an exemption for possessing critical medical skills, 884 applicants were granted an exemption for possessing critical skills and 363 applicants were granted exemptions who are on Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visa (SHEV).
During the public hearing of the committee on Tuesday, Commissioner Outram said the delegates were assessing all applications on ‘case-by-case’ basis.
“The system here we have built, we seek to turnaround for inbound applications – every application now, within 7 days. If it is an urgent case, we aim to do that in 48 hours,” Mr Outram said.
Meena* and her young son have been stranded in India for more than five months and all their attempts to seek a travel exemption have yielded no results.
“My husband is in Perth and I am a dependent on his 485 visa. We have applied for exemption seven times on compassionate grounds. My son is not keeping well in this weather [in India] and we have attached our GP’s letters but so far we have not been successful,” she told SBS Hindi from India.
The separation, the uncertainty and no end to the travel ban in sight, has left the family devastated, she says.
She is afraid of revealing her identity to media and fears it may affect her application’s outcome.
“All I want is to return home,” she says.
Senator McKim welcomed ABF Commissioner’s commitment to review the guidelines and hopes it will help families reunite.
Greens Senator Nick McKim Source: AAP
“I have been contacted by many hundreds of people who have had their applications for exemption from the inbound travel ban rejected, some on multiple occasions, despite being separated from their families, homes and jobs,” Senator McKim told SBS Hindi.
“We welcome the Commissioner’s commitment to a review, and we hope it will result in more families being reunited and more people able to come home to Australia to renew their lives.”
Australia closed its borders to all non-citizens and non-residents on March 20, 2020.
Only Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family, including spouses, legal guardians and dependents are allowed to enter Australia.
Non-citizens and temporary visa holders who want to travel to Australia need to seek an exemption from current travel restrictions.
According to the ABF, these exemptions are available to visa-holders who are providing critical or specialist medical services, work in a critical sector, are part of armed forces, or need to travel for compassionate and compelling reasons.
Compassionate and compelling reasons include needing to travel due to the death or critical illness of a close family member.
*Name withheld on person's request
