Australia Replaces Direction 99 With New Visa Rule That Prioritize Community Safety

As the Australian government replaced its contentious visa directive, issued in early 2023, with the new Direction 110, immigration officials and tribunals will now have to prioritize safety of the community, overriding the non-citizen's ties to the country, when considering their deportation appeals.

The new directive gives clarity about the deportation of non-citizens with a history of family or sexual violence, even if they have lived most of their lives in Australia, ABC News reported. The new rules will be implemented from June 21.

Under the earlier Direction 99, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) had to look at the individual's community ties and if a person had children who were Australian citizens or permanent residents, when reviewing visa cancellation.

Direction 99 caused an outcry when it was reported that several persons with criminal records, including rape and murder charges, got their deportation revoked, citing their long period of stay in Australia.

On the issue of ties with the community, the new directive altered the language replacing "will" with "may," which will now read as the government "may" afford tolerance. In addition, language used to describe community ties have been replaced with a broader "family or social links."

Direction 99 had said the government "will generally afford a higher level of tolerance of criminal or other serious conduct by non-citizens who have lived in the Australian community for most of their life."

By amending the language on Australian ties, Direction 110 gives "highest" priority to safety.

Giles stated that Direction 110 will strengthen the cancellation system, The Guardian reported.

"The new 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," he said.

Giles said the government should not be held responsible for AAT's interpretation of Direction 99.

"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. This new revised direction makes crystal clear that the government expects the protection of the Australian community be given greater weight in visa decisions," News.com quoted the minister.