The Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the Migration Amendment (Removals and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the Bill).
SCOA’s primary concerns with the Bill are that its powers are excessively far reaching, giving rise to many serious unintended consequences as a result, and that the introduction of a ‘travel ban’ power has serious implications for Australian citizens, permanent residents, and migrant and refugee communities more broadly. Beyond the legal implications of the Bill, it is pertinent to consider the social cohesion impact of measures such as these, which break the trust of thousands of Australians from refugee and migrant backgrounds in the Australian government. This is particularly so given the rushed nature of the Bill which further signals a lack of consideration for the rights of people of migrant and refugee backgrounds.