Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
Community Development Employment Projects Programme - expansion of 1,000 additional places
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission | 10.7 | 11.0 | 11.2 | 11.5 |
| Department of Family and Community Services | -10.7 | -11.0 | -11.2 | -11.5 |
The Government will provide additional funding of $61.5 million over four years to expand the Community Development and Employment Projects Programme (CDEP) by 1,000 places a year. The cost of the wage component of CDEP ($44.4 million over the first four years) is offset by a reduction in costs to the Department of Family and Community Services, reflecting participants moving from Newstart or Jobsearch allowances to CDEP wages. There is an additional on-cost component to CDEP ($17.1 million over the first four years), which will be absorbed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (ATSIS) from within existing resources.
The additional places will be allocated to remote communities to support projects that seek to prevent and address family violence and substance misuse. These activities will include:
- night patrols actively preventing family violence;
- police aides, court support workers and interpreters;
- expanded substance abuse treatment, support and counselling services;
- support for new women's shelters, health clinics and men's health initiatives; and
- new diversionary training, education and personal development programmes for young substance abusers and young offenders.
The places will initially be targeted at whole of government pilot sites agreed by the Council of Australian Governments.
Community Settlement Services Scheme - update on funding
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | 0.9 | - | - | - |
The Government will provide additional funding of $0.9 million in 2003-04 for the Community Settlement Services Scheme (CSSS). The CSSS provides grants to community-based organisations to assist migrants and refugees to settle and participate equitably in Australia.
This measure will maintain annual funding for the scheme at $18 million. The additional funding will enable the CSSS to give priority to the needs of emerging communities while continuing to provide support to more established community groups.
Cross-portfolio Indigenous flexible funding arrangements
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission | -1.0 | -1.0 | - | - |
| Department of Family and Community Services | -0.5 | -0.5 | - | - |
| Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | 3.0 | 3.0 | - | - |
| Department of Employment and Workplace Relations | -0.5 | -0.5 | - | - |
| Department of Transport and Regional Services | -0.1 | -0.1 | - | - |
| Department of Education, Science and Training | -0.4 | -0.4 | - | - |
| Department of Health and Ageing | -0.5 | -0.5 | - | - |
The Government has agreed to provide $3 million to the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs in 2003-04 and 2004-05, fully offset by savings in a number of other agencies, for a two-year trial of a small flexible pool of funding for the provision of services to Indigenous communities. The trial will be conducted within the Council of Australian Government (COAG) Indigenous trial regions that were agreed in April 2002.
The trial will allow a more flexible, coordinated and responsive approach to the needs of Indigenous communities within the trial regions. This measure will provide services in remote communities that cross portfolio lines such as ensuring children have access to transport to school, by-passing the need for the community to source funding through multiple education, regional and transport programmes. The trial will also play a key facilitating role in bringing community representatives together to meet and help ensure support for community initiatives that might otherwise not go ahead.
Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs - review of funding arrangements
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | 97.8 | - | - | - |
The Government has agreed to provide additional resourcing of $97.8 million in 2003-04 to meet operational requirements of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). As a result of changes to Government policy and to DIMIA's operating environment, such as the dramatic reduction in unauthorised boat arrivals, and the changed international security environment, the Purchasing Agreement no longer provides an appropriate basis for determining DIMIA's resource requirements, and resourcing was not sufficient to meet expenses. The additional funding also allows for more comprehensive processing and checking of visa applicants and arrivals, the reassessment of expired Temporary Protection Visas, additional costs of Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Services, increased costs in visa processing, including offshore humanitarian processing and costs of removal and detention of unauthorised arrivals.
This measure is an interim arrangement pending the outcome of a comprehensive review of DIMIA's business processes and costs to be undertaken during 2003-04. The Review will examine the extent to which the business environment in which DIMIA operates is changed by the heightened security environment and the Government's continuing commitment to policies that maintain the integrity of Australia's borders. The review will also examine whether there are any efficiencies that can be achieved.
The outcome from the review and DIMIA's resourcing requirements beyond 2003-04 will be considered in the 2004-05 Budget. A provision for additional funding in the forward years has been included in the Contingency Reserve pending the outcome of the review.
Humanitarian Programme 2003-04 - coordinating community support
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | - | - | - | - |
The Government will pilot a scheme in 2003-04 aimed at stimulating and coordinating community support for Special Humanitarian Programme applicants. The scheme will seek to increase support for the medical and travel costs of entrants which cannot be met by proposers. The estimated cost of $0.2 million for this pilot will be absorbed within the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs' existing funding.
Immigration detention onshore - review of long-term strategy
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | -7.1 | -9.6 | -9.7 | -9.9 |
In view of the success of the Government's policies to reduce unauthorised boat arrivals to Australia, the Government decided to rationalise detention facilities in Australia with the closure of the Woomera Immigration Reception and Processing Centre from March 2003. The detainees housed at Woomera were transferred to facilities near Port Augusta at Baxter and in Port Hedland. As a result of the reduced costs of maintaining facilities, there are savings to the Budget totalling $50.6 million over the four years.
In addition, the Government will provide additional resources of $14.3 million over four years to support alternative detention arrangements for women and children through the provision of an alternative detention facility near the Baxter detention facility. The alternative detention facility will be modelled on the residential housing facility trialed at Woomera over the past 18 months.
The net impact of the review of onshore detention facilities (expense and capital) measure is a saving of $30.7 million over four years.
See also the related capital measure titled Immigration detention onshore - review of long-term strategy in the Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs portfolio.
Multicultural policy development and implementation - extension of funding
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | - |
The Government will provide $3.3 million over three years to reaffirm its commitment to multiculturalism with the release of the new policy statement Multicultural Australia - United in Diversity. The policy is built on four principles of Responsibility, Respect, Fairness and Benefits. This measure provides funding to implement the policy and to support the continued work of the Council for Multicultural Australia.
Reconciliation Place - Stage Two
| 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 | |
| Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | 1.1 | - | - | - |
The Government will provide $1.1 million in 2003-04 to fulfil its commitment to further develop Reconciliation Place. This commitment was given by the Prime Minister in July 2002 at the opening of Stage One and involves funding artworks to complete Stage Two of the development. This important site on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin in the National Capital encourages national reflection and represents a public symbol of the nation's commitment to reconciliation between Indigenous and other Australians. A particular theme of the artworks will be the experiences of separated children and Indigenous leadership.