(Transcript from World News Australia Radio)
The bridging visas of about 13,500 asylum-seekers are expected to have lapsed by January.
Those who don't agree to the code may be returned to immigration detention, have their visas cancelled or government payments slashed.
Thea Cowie reports.
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Many of the regulations in the six-point code of conduct simply require asylum-seekers to obey the law.
They include not making sexual contact with another person without that person's consent or if they are under the age of consent, and not committing violent acts or damaging property.
Other requirements are more general.
Under the code, asylum-seekers could have their visas revoked for failing to attend an interview or for breaking road rules.
Daniel Webb, from the Melbourne-based Human Rights Law Centre, says the code constitutes a violation of human rights.
"The presumption of innocence and the protection against arbitrary deprivation of liberty are fundamental human rights and I think that these reforms completely trash them. They give one politician the power to indefinitely deprive a person of their liberty on the basis of really minor and untested allegations. And any sort of legal analysis that says, 'Oh, you know that's a reasonable and proportionate limitation on human rights', I think is one that we should be pretty sceptical about."
The code also prohibits antisocial behaviour, lying to a government official, refusing to undertake treatment for a health condition and disruptive activities that are "inconsiderate, disrespectful or threaten the peaceful enjoyment of other members of the community."
The Government defends the code saying it has "become increasingly concerned about non-citizens who engage in conduct that is not in line with the expectations of the Australian community."
But the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre's Kon Karapanagiotidis says there is absolutely no need for the code of conduct.
"One of the great myths in all of these new changes is somehow the idea that our Crimes Act - our act to prosecute and treat people who breach the law - is not adequate enough; that somehow asylum-seekers are super criminals and need a special set of laws or procedures. It's a farce."
Mr Karapanagiotidis points to statistics which show asylum-seekers who have been released from detention are 40 per cent less likely to offend than members of the general population.
He says the code is punitive, draconian and does not allow for any action against asylum-seekers to be reviewed.
But in an explanatory memorandum, the government defends the regulation at length against possible allegations of human rights violations.
It mentions human rights may be restricted on national security grounds, and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison concludes the code is compatible with human rights because to the extent it limits them, the limitations are reasonable, necessary and proportionate.
Anyone who breaks the code may have their income support reduced or ceased, or be returned to immigration detention after having their visa cancelled.
Paul Barratt is the chair of research organisation Australia21 which has just launched a book on asylum-seeker policy.
He says the code will face opposition in parliament.
"Anything introduced by regulation can't be disallowed until parliament resumes. Now it's a very odd approach to a democratic system to let the timing of your measures be decided on the basis that you know they will be disallowed by parliament so you'll get the maximum time in by doing it just after parliament rises."
Opposition Immigration spokesman Richard Marles is not commenting on the code.
But Australian Greens Senator Richard Di Natale says his party will move to block it when parliament resumes.
"This is pure politics. This is about trying to create the sense that these are different people who have different standards of behaviour. No, what we're seeing here is part of a consistent pattern. We call them queue-jumpers, we call them illegals, because we want to create the sense within the Australian community that they are not to be trusted."
The government has also introduced a regulation allowing the Immigration Minister to release asylum-seeker's personal details to police.
