Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025, Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025

Senator AYRES (New South Wales—Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science) (18:01): I table a revised explanatory memorandum relating to the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Technical Changes No. 2) Bill 2025, and I move: That these bills be now read a second time. I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted. The speeches read as follows— HOME AFFAIRS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (2025 MEASURES NO. 2) BILL 2025 The Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025 amends the Migration Act and Citizenship Act to clarify provisions relating to personal identifiers, and particularly requirements in relation to facial images, to ensure they align with international standards and current biometric technologies and practices.

The Bill also amends the Citizenship Act to address certain residency barriers to Australian citizenship for persons who are seeking to engage in a specified activity that is of benefit to Australia, and who need to be an Australian citizen in order to engage in that activity. Personal Identifiers The collection of biometric facial images assists the Department to mitigate identity fraud, and national security and community safety risks.

They enable the Department to identify individuals who have committed serious crimes in Australia or in partner countries, and prevent the return of certain individuals who have previously been refused a visa, placed in immigration detention, or removed or deported from Australia. The collection and use of facial images also support efforts to prevent identity fraud in visa and citizenship application processes, and mitigate the risk of human trafficking.

Facial images are also an important part of efficient and secure immigration clearance at the Australian border. Biometric facial images are used by SmartGates to automate immigration clearance at our major international airports. Approximately 70 per cent of travellers are currently immigration cleared by SmartGates.

This supports the Australian Border Force to manage increasing numbers of travellers entering Australia without the need for significant increases in ABF officers. The security benefits and efficiency of biometric facial images enable the ABF to focus the efforts of ABF officers on identifying persons of interest, protecting the Australian community and enabling legitimate travel and trade.

The last major changes to the Department's collection of biometrics were made by the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Biometrics Integrity) Act 2015. Since then, international standards have evolved and biometric technologies for facial images have advanced. The amendments in Schedule 1 to this Bill will modernise and clarify the provisions of the Migration Act and Citizenship Act that enable the collection of facial images.

The amendments will ensure the Department collects only what is required for biometric matching purposes. This includes clarifying the collection of facial images by authorised systems such as SmartGates, or through an online application. The amendments in Schedule 1 will ensure the Department has express authority to collect and verify facial images whether that image is of a face, face and neck or face and shoulders—in line with international facial image standards and practices and current biometric technology.

Modernising terms and definitions in the legislation for facial images, and bringing them into line with agreed international standards—instead of using outdated terminology—provides greater certainty for the Australian Government and individuals going forward regarding a capability that underpins the integrity of the migration system. Schedule 1 to the Bill clarifies what constitutes a facial image.

It also introduces provisions that clarify how a person's photograph or facial image is provided to a SmartGate or the Minister under the Act. These amendments will ensure that the Department has clear legislative authority to collect what is required for biometric matching purposes, with flexibility reflected in the legislation to align with modern technologies.

The provisions also expressly allow for a SmartGate or the Department to derive a photograph or other image of a person's face, in circumstances where more of their body is captured. For example, if a person presents to a SmartGate and the original image includes their upper body. Importantly, the amendments in Schedule 1 do not expand on the current collection of facial images or existing powers to collect them—the amendments simply clarify what constitutes a facial image.

The collection and use of facial images is a longstanding feature of Australia's immigration and border management processes and systems. The amendments in Schedule 1 therefore also validate past actions taken by the Department in relation to facial images collected under the Migration Act and Citizenship Act as in force at the relevant time. This is a commonsense amendment, to make clear that an image of a face and neck (that didn't also include the person's shoulders) is appropriately a personal identifier for the purposes of the legislation.

The amendments are clarifying amendments and will not result in any penalties or disadvantage to those who have previously provided facial images. Special residence requirements for citizenship The Bill alsoamends the Citizenship Actto amend the Minister's personal, discretionary power to determine that a person meets special residence under section 22A of the Act.

The amendments in Schedule 2 to the Bill will address residency barriers to Australian citizenship for persons who are engaging in an activity of benefit to Australia, and who are seeking to become an Australian citizen, but whose overseas absences relating to this activity impact their ability to meet the current general, special or alternative residence requirements.

The amendments will provide the Minister with the discretion, under the Minister's personal power, to determine that an applicant for Australian citizenship meets the special residency requirement under section 22A of the Citizenship Act, without needing to be satisfied they have been present in Australia for at least 180 days during the period of two years immediately before the day they make their application.

Currently under subsection 22A(1A) of the Act, the Minister has a personal, non-compellable power under the special residence requirement in relation to specific activities, where the Minister considers that the person engaging in a specified activity would be of benefit to Australia. These activities are specified in a disallowable legislative instrument made for the purposes of the provision—and include a range of sporting competitions, including the Olympics, Paralympics, international tennis or cricket matches.

However, in some cases, the current provisions have failed to provide for the increased overseas training requirements associated with certain sports. This is resulting in a significant missed opportunity for Australia to harness the significant contributions a person could make in terms of: enhancing Australia's international reputation and providing inspiration and motivation to other athletes and the Australian community at large.

The amendments in Schedule 2 will address this by allowing the Minister to exercise the Minister's personal power to determine that an applicant for Australian citizenship meets the special residence requirement without needing to be present in Australia for at least 180 days during the period of two years immediately before they made an application. The Bill also makes a related amendment to remove the requirement that the applicant provides an undertaking that they will be present in Australia for a total of at least 180 days during the two-year period after acquiring Australian citizenship.

To continue to reinforce the importance of presence in Australia as a way of understanding the Australian way of life and the commitment made through the citizenship pledge, the applicant will still be required to provide an undertaking they will be ordinarily resident in Australia for two years immediately after they became an Australian citizen. The Bill also makes consequential amendments of other provisions of the Act, including associated revocation provisions, to reflect the changes to the undertaking.

Any applicant who applies under the special residence requirements will also continue to be required to meet all other relevant legislative requirements under the Citizenship Act to be approved to become an Australian citizen, including: having permanent residence status; being of good character; and passing the citizenship test. This legislation will ensure there is appropriate flexibility for applicants for Australian citizenship to participate in, for example, overseas training that may be required as part of their specified activity, while still spending sufficient time in Australia to understand the nature of Australian citizenship and the Australian way of life, and to call Australia home.

I commend this Bill to the Chamber. THE SOCIAL SECURITY AND OTHER LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (TECHNICAL CHANGES NO. 2) BILL 2025 This bill is about making Australia's social security system better and fairer for everyone. It builds on the work the Albanese Government has done since coming to office to restore integrity, compassion and common sense to how we support people in need.

It closes another loophole where perpetrators of financial coercion and abuse have sought to harm their victims. And it moves our social security system a further step away from the shame of Robodebt. The Government continues its work to rebuild confidence in the system, with 75 per cent of recommendations from the Robodebt Royal Commission now implemented or underway.

The measures in this bill do the following: they improve access to debt relief for victims of coercion and financial abuse they make social security debt raising more proportionate and cost effective, and they resolve the longstanding issue of income apportionment in a practical and compassionate way. The bill also strengthens the integrity of the social security system.

It introduces new powers to prevent people who are evading arrest for a serious violent or sexual offence from accessing taxpayer funded support. The debt reform measures in this bill will bring a cultural shift in Australia's social security system. They have long been advocated by leaders in the non-government sector, and senators on the Community Affairs Legislation Committee heard first-hand from the organisations who work with income support recipients every day.

For the first time in 30 years, the threshold for waiving small social security debts is being raised. Current thresholds are set at either $50 or $200 and have not kept pace with the increasing value of social security payments or with costs in the broader economy. This bill creates a single, unified threshold of $250 that will be indexed annually against the Consumer Price Index.

Often the cost of chasing a small overpayment is significantly higher than the debt itself, costing government more than it saves. This change will see around 1.2 million undetermined debts waived or not needing to be raised this financial year alone, taking pressure off thousands of households who will no longer be pursued for small debts. Services Australia will be able to spend more time investigating and recovering more significant debts and compliance measures have been reinforced for anyone who might seek to manipulate the increased small debt waiver.

In practice these changes will mean a single mum on Parenting Payment who picks up an extra few shifts and forgets to update her income for that fortnight won't receive a series of calls and letters to recover an accidental $100 debt. For those who work variable hours and receive Carer Payment, or students who balance study and casual work, these changes recognise that incomes often fluctuate, and most people are trying to do the right thing.

The bill also takes another important step on the Government's commitment to make Commonwealth systems safer. Financial abuse and coercive control are forms of abuse that leave victim-survivors saddled with debts which are not their fault. Until now they could be stuck with that debt.

This bill changes that. It expands access to the special circumstances waiver to cases of family and domestic violence, where a debt arises due to coercion or financial abuse. Take, for example, Jamie, a casual worker receiving Jobseeker Payment.

Jamie doesn't report their additional income to Services Australia, because of coercive control and financial abuse from a former partner who demands they lie. When Services Australia finds out, a debt of $1,000 is raised against Jamie. Jamie provides evidence that their former partner compelled them to underreport earnings in order to maximise the amount of Jobseeker they received.

Jamie also submits medical records confirming they faced significant physical and mental ill-health due to the coercion and abuse. Under the current legislation, Jamie would be denied a waiver of the special circumstances provision. This is because they knowingly reported false information to Services Australia in connection with the overpayment.

However, under the changes provided for in this bill, a decision maker will consider Jamie's broader circumstances, and the debt can be waived. This recognises that their actions were justifiable and that it's not right to pursue a debt resulting from financial abuse or coercion. This change responds to the 2024 Parliamentary Inquiry into Financial Abuse and also to recommendation 18.1 of the Robodebt Royal Commission.

It acts on the lived experience of so many social security recipients and the advocacy of many stakeholder groups. I will share some comments of the Member for Bonner in the other place, who worked as a domestic violence lawyer for more than a decade. She said: Financial abuse is one of the most insidious tools used by perpetrators of domestic and family violence.

It is used to entrap women and to make them feel that leaving isn't possible, that they can't survive on their own, that the very institutions designed to support them will penalise them if they try. This bill says to survivors: we see you. It says to perpetrators: you will not hide behind government systems to control and cause further harm.

It empowers officials to consider all the circumstances of a debt—not just whether a false statement was made, but why it was made—whether it was made under threat, under coercion, under the shadow of control. This is another step in making our social security system safer and more responsive to the lived experiences of women facing financial abuse. The bill also provides a resolution for the historic practice of income apportionment.

This practice has never been used by the Albanese Government. Where past governments did use income apportionment, it was based on a genuinely held, but incorrect, understanding of the law. This was not Robodebt.

It was a practice by which Centrelink would use an averaging process determine social security payments when they did not have information on daily earnings. Services Australia sampling shows that debts were typically affected at the margins, with around one-third of people actually paying back a lower debt than should have been the case. Re-opening these debts would divert enormous resources and cause needless distress and uncertainty for the people affected.

The vast majority of debts have been repaid. Therefore, the bill retrospectively validates the past use of income appointment and provides for the establishment of the Income Apportionment Resolution Scheme. The scheme will be available to people with affected debts from 20 September 2003 to 6 December 2020.

Eligible individuals will be able to apply for a resolution payment of up to $600, recognising that we now know this method of calculating entitlements was invalid. The amount received will reflect the size of the original debt. No-one is obliged to participate in this scheme or is prevented from exercising any legal rights to pursue a claim relating to their debt.

The final element of this bill goes to the integrity of Australia's social security system. The Government has moved quickly following advice from both law enforcement and social services agencies, in establishing a power for a person's social security payment or concession card to be cancelled where they are subject to an outstanding arrest warrant for a serious violent or sexual offence and they are evading arrest.

There is currently no lawful authority to cancel a person's payments or concessions in these circumstances. The Government has considered this power very carefully. We do not think the Australian community finds it acceptable that someone might still be receiving income support payments while they evade police, charged with a serious crime.

This is especially the case where a person represents a threat to community safety. The bill provides for a 'benefit restriction notice' to be used for this purpose, with a number of strict safeguards in place. A benefit restriction notice may be issued in the name of an individual while a warrant for a serious violent or sexual offence, within the meaning of the Criminal Code Act 1995, is out for their arrest, and they are evading arrest.

A written request to cancel the individual's payments and/or concession card, from an appropriately senior member of the Australian Federal Police or a state or territory police force, will be required. The power to issue a notice will be given to the minister administering the Australian Federal Police Act 1979, currently the Minister for Home Affairs. The minister must consider the extent to which the person is likely to be a threat or danger to the community.

They must also obtain advice from Services Australia about any dependants a person has, prior to issuing a notice. It has been carefully designed and will be carefully administered. Maintaining community confidence in our social security system is vital as we work to make it fairer and more effective.

This is a power only for the most serious of circumstances, but it assures Australians that the Government can and will take action if the circumstances warrant it. This bill almost halves the undetermined debt backlog, provides relief to those facing small, accidental debts and protects victims of financial abuse. It helps deliver a fairer social security system that offers better support to Australians under financial pressure.

It builds on a long list of steps the Albanese Government has taken to ease pressure on these people, for example: increasing the rate of Jobseeker Payment by almost $4,000 over three years lifting the Age Pension by close to $5,000 for singles increasing Commonwealth Rent Assistance by almost 50 per cent expanding Paid Parental Leave to 26 weeks by July next year, with superannuation now paid on it.

These reflect our values and support stronger communities across the country. I commend the Bill. Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.