The Federal Government last week introduced the Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measurers) Bill 2016 which will mandate character checks of sponsors of family visa applications.
The legislative changes will expand checks to all sponsors to allow better consideration of the potential for family violence. Currently police checks are required for sponsors in applications where children are involved and specifically focus on the protection of children.
The changes will enable the DIBP to refuse sponsorship applications in circumstances where the sponsor has convictions for paedophilia, other offences against children or offences relating to violence. In refusing the application, DIBP will have to consider a range of factors including the length of the relationship, the type of offence and how recently it occurred, the relevance of the offence to the family relationship and any other mitigating circumstances. In 2015-16, 529 partner visa applicants claimed they were victims of family violence, compared to 458 claims made in 2014-15.
(source: Migration Institute of Australia)