Today, I have signed Ministerial Direction 110, a new, revised Direction to strengthen the consideration of community safety in Australia’s migration system.
Since coming to office, the Government has refused and cancelled a large number of visas on character grounds in the interests of community safety.
However, it is clear the AAT has made a number of decisions independently of Government that do not reflect the Government’s intent or meet community expectations.
Since the beginning of last week, I have cancelled 40 visas in the national interest.
Today, we take the next step in strengthening our cancellation system to better reflect community expectations.
Ministerial Direction 110 is guided by two key principles; the protection of the Australian community and common sense.
This new revised Direction makes crystal clear that the Government expects the protection of the Australian community be given greater weight in visa decisions.
The Government has also taken further steps to strengthen the new revised Direction.
The revised Direction makes it clear that the safety of the Australian community is the Government’s highest priority – and includes this as a key principle of the decision-making framework.
It elevates the impact on victims of family violence and their families into one of the existing primary considerations, reflecting the Government’s zero-tolerance approach to family and domestic violence.
Ministerial Direction 110 is an important step in ensuring that our migration system works in our national interest, and visa decisions are in line with common sense and the safety of Australians.
Community safety is and always will be our Government’s highest priority.
