Dr Theophanous asked the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, upon notice, on 13 October 1999:

(1) Has the Immigration Parents category been capped at 500 visas per year.

(2) Does the cap include other family reunion categories, including brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces; if not, is there a cap on this group; if so, what is that cap.

(3) Are there up to 20,000 applicants for the parent's category; if not, what is the figure.

(4) How many applicants are there in other family reunion categories.

(5) Does his current policy make it impossible for families to join together, especially Australian residents wishing to bring their parents to Australia; if not, why not.

Mr Ruddock (Immigration and Multicultural Affairs; Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Reconciliation) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) Planning levels for Parent entry were announced in the 1999-2000 Migration Program as 500 places. This translated into 400 places for the offshore Parent visa subclass 103 (overseas) and 100 places for the onshore parent subclass 804. I have determined caps at those levels under section 85 of the Migration Act. No caps have been set for the new Designated Parent category.

(2) Caps may be imposed on any visa subclass during the course of the program year (except for spouses or children). At present I have only determined caps in respect of the parent subclasses mentioned above. Other subclasses may be capped during the course of the program year depending on levels of demand.

(3) On the information currently available, there are some 19,400 applicants in the parent category.

(4) Table 1 below provides details of the number of applicants currently in the pipeline for the remaining Family Stream subclasses including Parents.

(5) No, this Government has maintained a strong commitment to family migration. The Family Stream of Australia's Migration Program enables the reunion of immediate family members such as spouses, fianc(e)s, interdependent partners, dependent children, adopted children, stepchildren, and certain other members of extended families such as parents, orphan relatives, carers, aged dependent relatives and remaining relatives.

I have set processing priorities for visa applications in the Family Stream to ensure that immediate family members, such as dependent children (including children for adoption and orphan relatives), spouses, fianc(e)s and interdependent partners of sponsors and nominators in Australia are given the highest priority.

The number of parent places available has decreased as this Government has sought to strike a more optimal balance between the skilled and family components of the Migration Program and give greater priority within the Family Stream to immediate family members such as spouses and children.

The Government has had concerns about the increasing number of Family Stream applicants who are parents and the costs to the community associated with their entry. Research indicates that these migrants have a greater dependency on services being used by our ageing population, especially health and social security benefits. Parents of working age also experience extreme difficulty in obtaining employment. The Government believes it is reasonable that these people and their Australian sponsors and assurers should bear a fairer share of the costs associated with their entry.

To achieve this objective, on 1 November 1998 I introduced changes to the entry arrangements for parents including:

. limiting access to permanent migration to aged parents (with the exception for certain working age parents);

. preventing parents from applying for permanent residence while they were within Australia, with the exception of long-term retirement visa holders; and

. increasing the second instalment of the Visa Application Charge (the health charge) from $945 to $5,000.

On 31 March 1999, non-Government Senators voted to disallow these changes to entry arrangements for parents. As a result of the disallowance, many Australian citizen and permanent resident sponsors were denied the opportunity to bring their parents to Australia. Moreover, the Government was forced to reduce the number of places available in order to manage the increased financial burden on the Australian community.

Following discussions with the Opposition spokesman on Immigration, I have recently introduced regulations that will allow parent applicants affected by the disallowance in March 1999 to have their applications reactivated under a new Designated Parent class. The introduction of this new visa class will provide over 2,000 parents with an avenue to join their children. This will be on the basis that they are still prepared to pay the higher health charges involved in the disallowed categories.

I am also looking into the long-term options for allowing more parents to enter Australia without placing an unsustainable burden on Australia's health and welfare systems and the Australian taxpayer. I look forward to working with the Opposition spokesman on Immigration on these options.

TABLE 1: FAMILY STREAM APPLICANTS AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 1999

Source: DIMA MPMS and RESI2 data

1 Onshore data is at 30 June 1999. More recent data is not currently available due to the introduction of the new Integrated Client Service Environment (ICSE) onshore processing system and a temporary hiatus in reporting capability. Actual numbers would not differ significantly from those provided.