Migration Amendment (Repairing Medical Transfers) Bill 2019

The majority voted in favour of a motion to pass the bill in the House of Representatives. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill for a third time. This means that the bill will now go to the Senate for them to decide whether they want the bill to become law.

What does the bill do?

The bill was introduced in order to:

• remove provisions inserted by the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Act 2019 (the medical transfer provisions) which created a framework for the transfer of transitory persons (and their family members, and other persons recommended to accompany the transitory person) from regional processing countries to Australia for the purposes of medical or psychiatric assessment or treatment; and
• provide for the removal from Australia, or return to a regional processing country, of transitory persons who are brought to Australia under the medical transfer provisions, once the temporary purpose for which they were brought to Australia is complete.