Commonwealth legislation

Migration Act 1958 - Revocation of section 499 Direction No. 21

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Collection

legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

1/10 complexity

What this does: This instrument cancels (revokes) a previous ministerial direction known as "Direction No 21" from 2001.

Who it affects: This affects Department of Immigration staff and tribunals who decide whether to refuse or cancel visas on character grounds.

Why it matters: Direction No 21 provided mandatory guidelines for handling visa refusals and cancellations under section 501 of the Migration Act—the section that deals with the "character test." By revoking this direction, the Minister removed those specific rules. From 15 June 2009, decision-makers were no longer bound by Direction No 21 when assessing whether someone's character made them unsuitable to hold a visa.

Key detail: This does not replace Direction No 21 with new rules here; it simply removes the old guidance, leaving decision-makers to follow the general law (or any subsequent directions) until new guidance was issued.

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Migration Act 1958 - Revocation of section 499 Direction No. 21

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Commonwealth of Australia

Migration Act 1958

REVOCATION OF SECTION 499 DIRECTION NO 21

(SECTION 499)

I, CHRIS EVANS, Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, acting under section 499 of the Migration Act 1958 (‘the Act’):

REVOKE ‘Direction No 21 – Visa Refusal and Cancellation under section 501’, signed on 23 August 2001.

This instrument (IMMI 09/047) commences on 15 June 2009.

Dated 3 June 2009

CHRIS EVANS

Minister for Immigration and Citizenship

[Note: Subsection 499(1) of the Act empowers the Minister to give to a person or body having functions or powers under the Act written directions not inconsistent with the Act or the Regulations, in accordance with which the person or body shall perform those functions and exercise those powers. The person or body must comply with the direction.]

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.