- $711 million over six years to border management, including funding for the future Australian Border Force
- 4000 places allocated to asylum seekers in the Migration Program scrapped
- Immigration Advice and Application Assistance Scheme tightened and Displaced Person Programme axed
- Budget 2014: Hockey outlines federal budget
Australia’s immigration services are set to be overhauled as the government faces millions of dollars in expenditure.
The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will spend $281.5 million over the next four years, growing from costs of $65.6 million in the coming financial year to $84.9 million in 2015-16.
In his budget speech, Treasurer Joe Hockey told Parliament that “the government has already taken strong and decisive action to restore the integrity of our borders”.
Border security
The government will commit $711 million over six years to border management, which will help fund the establishment of the Australian Border Force.
The single frontline agency will replace Australian Customs and Border Protection Service from July 1 2015 and will be led by a Commissioner who will report directly to the Immigration Minister.
An additional $59.7 million has been committed to the Department of Defence to fund border control programs such as Operation Sovereign Borders, while $1 million has been committed over two years for the activities of the Special Envoy for Operation Sovereign Borders.
Asylum seekers
A total of 4000 places allocated to asylum seekers under the Migration Program will be axed, resulting in no growth on figures from 2013-14 at 190,000 places.
The changes to the policy are expected to save the government $305.2 million.
A total of $574.1 million has been committed over five years to provide support services to asylum seekers “found to be owed protection”, while $27.8 million has been pledged to provide “eligible asylum seekers” with support while their immigration status is being resolved.
Detention centres
A total of $2.6 million has been allocated in 2014-15 for full time school education for all school aged detainees on Christmas Island, though two compounds on the island are slated for closure.
The closure of the centres, along with four additional onshore facilities, is estimated to save $280 million.
The government is also due to make savings through renegotiating contracts with offshore detention centre service providers, estimated at cutting $77.5 million from the budget over five years.
Funds have been allocated for upgrades to Christmas Island infrastructure with the government committing $217.6 million over five years to support the rapid transfer of asylum seekers to facilities.
Program cuts and mergers
The Displaced Person Programme will be axed, expected to save $38.4 million over five years, while access to the Immigration Advice and Application Assistance Scheme will be scrapped for onshore applicants seeking a merits review of their negative primary protection decision.
It remains in place only for those onshore whose processing is underway, following an earlier axing by the Abbott Government for asylum seekers who arrive in Australia through unofficial channels.
The Outreach Officer Program will be axed from July 1, while the Migration Review Tribunal, Refugee Review Tribunal and Social Security Appeals Tribunal will be merged.
Additional measures
The Government will donate two retired Bay Class vessels, valued at $1.2 million, to Malaysia in 2015-16 in a move that was foreshadowed in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
The budget measures follow a report by the Commission of Audit which stated that the detention and processing of asylum seekers arriving by boat was the fastest growing government program, in terms of spending, over recent years.
Expenditure has surged from $118.4 million in 2009-10 to $3.3 billion this financial year.
The report also listed the annual cost of holding one person in onshore detention has increased from $179,000 in 2011-12 to $239,000 in 2013-14, while offshore costs measure at more than $400,000.
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