Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Justice and Customs, Senator the Honourable Christopher Martin Ellison)Schedule 4 - providing customs with information
Customs Act 1901
71. Employees at international airports include:
- 71.1.1.
- airport employees, for example airport management and cleaners;
- 71.1.2.
- airline employees, for example baggage handlers and maintenance staff;
- 71.1.3.
- employees of retail businesses that operate in the airport; and
- 71.1.4.
- government employees (including Customs and AQIS officers).
72. Only a limited number of people working at international airports in Australia with access to restricted areas require a security clearance, yet all are involved in a vetting process as part of their being issued with Aviation Security Identification Cards (ASICs). All people working at international airports must wear an ASIC. Visitors to international airports may also be required to wear a Visitor Identification Card (VIC). Under the Customs Act, these cards are collectively known as a security identification card.
73. A class of restricted areas to which ASIC and VIC holders have access is the section 234AA place. This is an area at an airport, covered by a notice under section 234AA of the Customs Act, that is used by Customs for the questioning of aircraft passengers, the examining of the personal baggage of such passengers and as a holding place for such passengers.
74. The presence of ASIC and VIC holders in a section 234AA place can potentially pose a threat to the integrity and security of the border. In order to monitor this threat, under section 213B of the Customs Act, a person who issues an ASIC or a VIC to another person in respect of an international airport must provide specified information to an authorised officer of Customs within 7 days of doing so. Presently, the information that must be provided is:
- 74.1.1.
- the name and address of the other person;
- 74.1.2.
- the date and place of birth of the other person; and
- 74.1.3.
- the details of any area that is covered by a notice under section 234AA to which the other person has access to perform his or her duties (this detail is only relevant to the holder of an ASIC).
This information is collectively defined under the Customs Act as required identity information.
75. At present, however, there is no mechanism whereby Customs can receive updates of any of the information provided in accordance with the original obligation. For example, when a person is initially issued with an ASIC, their duties at that time may not require access to a section 234AA place. If, after the initial obligation to provide information has been satisfied, a change in their duties requires access to a section 234AA place, the person who issued the ASIC has no obligation to inform Customs of the change. Customs also has no way of finding out this change. Customs, therefore, may not have details of all ASIC holders who have access to a section 234AA place at any particular point in time.
76. The amendments to section 213B of the Customs Act will give Customs the ability to seek updates of information in relation to the holder of an ASIC or a VIC that has been provided in accordance with the original obligation.
Item 1 Subsection 213B(1)
77. This item repeals and substitutes subsection 213B(1). New subsection 213B(1) refers to an "issuing authority in relation to the card" as opposed to a person who issued a security identification card. This is a technical amendment only to cover the circumstance where the functions of the initial issuing authority are taken over by another issuing authority. A new definition of "issuing authority" is being inserted by item 6 of Schedule 4.
Item 2 Subsection 213B(2)
78. This item amends current subsection 213B(2) to omit the reference to the person who issued a security identification card and substitute it with a reference to "an issuing authority in relation to the card". This is a technical amendment only to cover the circumstance where the functions of the initial issuing authority are taken over by another issuing authority. A new definition of "issuing authority" is being inserted by item 6 of Schedule 4.
Item 3 Subsection 213B(2)
79. This item amends current subsection 213B(2) to omit the reference to "the person so requested" and substitute it with a reference to "the issuing authority". This is a technical amendment only to cover the circumstance when the functions of the initial issuing authority are taken over by another issuing authority. A new definition of "issuing authority" is being inserted by item 6 of Schedule 4.
Item 4 After subsection 213B(2)
80. This item inserts new subsections 213B(2A) and (2B).
81. New subsection 213B(2A) will apply if a person has issued a security identification card (which includes an ASIC) to another person in respect of an airport appointed under section 15 (which includes all Australian international airports). Where this occurs, an authorised officer of Customs may request an issuing authority in relation to the card to provide information for the purposes of updating the required identity information previously provided in respect of the other person under subsection 213B(1) (the original obligation when a security identification card is first issued) or under this new subsection. This information must be provided within 7 days after receiving the request.
82. Such requests can be made on an ongoing basis and will enable Customs to have the most up-to-date required identity information in respect of each card holder.
83. New subsection 213B(2B) will apply where a security identification card expires or is revoked. When either of these events occurs, the issuing authority in relation to the card must notify an authorised officer of Customs of the expiry or revocation within 7 days.
Item 5 Subsection 213B(3)
84. This item amends subsection 213B(3) to insert references to new subsections 213B(2A) and (2B). Subsection 213B(3) sets out how the obligations under subsections 213B(1) and (2) are complied with - either in writing or in such other form as the CEO determines. This amendment will extend these methods to the new obligations under subsections 213B(2A) and (2B).
Item 6 Subsection 213B(4)
85. This item amends subsection 213B(4) by inserting a new definition of issuing authority. "Issuing authority", in relation to a security identification card, means any of the following:
- 85.1.
- the person who issued the card; or
- 85.2.
- the person who is authorised to perform the functions, or exercise the powers, of the person who issued the card.
Item 7 Application
86. This item sets out application provisions in relation to the technical amendment to subsection 213B(1) and new subsection 213B(2B) to ensure that they only have prospective operation.
87. The new amended subsection 213B(1) will only apply in relation to security identification cards issued after the commencement of this Schedule. Similarly, the requirement under new subsection 213B(2B) will only apply in relation to such cards that expire, or are revoked, after the commencement of this Schedule.
88. The power under new subsection 213B(2A) will apply in relation to security identification cards issued before or after the commencement of that new subsection, but not before the commencement of section 213B. Security identification cards issued before that date will continue to be governed by subsection 213B(2).