AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 218

AUSTRALIAN CITIZENSHIP REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1994 NO. 218

STATUTORY RULES 1994 No. 218

Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs

Subject - Australian Citizenship Act 1948

Australian Citizenship Regulations (Amendment)

Section 53 of the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 (the Act) provides for the Governor-General to make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, prescribing all matters which are required or permitted by the Act to be prescribed, or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act. In particular, paragraph 53(f) provides for the making of regulations for, or in relation to, the imposition and recovery of fees in respect of any application, any registration, the making of any declaration and the grant of any certificate under the Act, and the supplying of a copy of any declaration or certificate granted under the Act.

The purpose of the Regulations is:

-        to increase a number of the fees imposed by the Australian Citizenship Regulations, implementing the Government's decision to index the fees, from the date they were last set, in accordance with the Commonwealth Government Final Consumption Expenditure index for the quarter ending 31 December 1993; and

-        to continue an existing entitlement by providing for age pensioners and age service pensioners who hold a pensioner concession card, which replaces the pensioner health benefits card, to pay a concessional fee on application for grant of a certificate of Australian citizenship.

Details of the Regulations are set out in the Attachment.

ATTACHMENT

Regulation 1 - Commencement

This regulation provides for these Regulations to commence on l July 1994,

Regulation 2 - Amendment

This regulation provides for the Australian Citizenship Regulations to be amended as set out in these Regulations.

Regulation 3 - Regulation 7A (application for registration)

Subregulation 3.1 amends subregulation 7A(3) to raise the fee for an application to register a person under 18 years as an Australian citizen by descent, where the application does not come under subregulation 7A(4), from $100 to $110.

Subregulation 3.2 amends paragraph 7A(4)(a) to provide that where two or more applications to register siblings under 18 years as Australian citizens by descent are made, the fee is $110 in respect of the first applicant. The fee in respect of the other applicant(s) is set out in subregulation 3.3 below. The effect of this amendment is to raise the fee for the first sibling from $100 to $110.

Subregulation 3.3 amends paragraph 7A(4)(b) to provide that where two or more applications to register siblings under 18 years as Australian citizens by descent are made, the fee is $80 in respect of applicants other than the applicant covered by paragraph 7A(4)(a). The effect of this amendment is to increase the fee for siblings other than the first from $75 to $80.

Regulation 4 - Regulation 7E (Application for registration under section 10C of the Act)

Subregulation 4.1 amends subregulation 71E(3) to raise the fee for an application for registration of a person over 18 years as an Australian citizen by descent from $100 to $110.

Regulation 5 - Regulation 8 (Declaratory certificate of citizenship issued on application)

Subregulation 5.1 amends subregulation 8(2) to raise the fee for an application for a declaratory certificate of citizenship from $50 to $55.

Regulation 6 - Regulation 9 (Fee on lodgement of application for grant of certificate of Australian citizenship)

Subregulation 6.1 amends subregulation 9(1) to raise the fee payable on lodgment of an application for grant of a certificate of Australian citizenship, where the applicant is not a person referred to in subregulations 9(1A), (1B) and (2), from $50 to $55.

Subregulations 6.2 and 6.3 amend subregulation 9(1A) and paragraph 9(1B)(a), respectively, to insert references to the pensioner concession card introduced this year to replace the pensioner health benefits cards. Applicants for the grant of a certificate of Australian citizenship who are age pensioners and age service pensioners and hold a pensioner health benefits card pay a concessional fee under the existing provisions. The pensioner concession card is issued on the same basis of eligibility as the pensioner health benefits card. This amendment ensures that these applicants continue to be required to pay only the concessional fee. The concessional fee remains at $20.

Regulation 7 - Regulation 16 (Fee payable in respect of declaration of desire to resume citizenship)

Subregulation 7.1 amends regulation 16 to raise the fee payable in respect of a declaration that a person wishes to resume Australian citizenship from $50 to $65.

Regulation 8 - Regulation 18 (Fee payable in respect of application under subsection 44A(2) of the Act)

Subregulation 8.1 amends regulation 18 to raise the fee payable in respect of an application for the issue of an evidentiary certificate of a person's Australian citizenship from $50 to $55.

Regulation 9 - Regulation 19 (Prescribed fee for the purposes of paragraph 46A(1)(c) of the Act)

Subregulation 9.1 amends regulation 19 to raise the prescribed fee payable in respect of an application for an evidentiary certificate in relation to a certificate of Australian citizenship that at any time has been granted to a person from $50 to $55.