Direction No 79 – Direction under Section 499 – Visa refusal and cancellation under s501 and revocation of mandatory cancellation of a visa under s501CA of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
Direction 79 will commence on 28 February 2019
Direction 79 revokes Direction 65.
This new Direction 79 separates crimes of a violent nature against women or children into new subclauses, added to the text of the previous Direction 65.
Violent crimes against women or children, will be considered in the most serious manner, regardless of the sentence. These may lead to visa holder cancellation, visa application refusals, revocation of cancellation for visas
The principles in Direction 79 support the Government’s and the Australian community’s low tolerance for family violence and strengthens the provisions of other Bills before the Parliament including the Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2018, and the yet to commence Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Act 2018.
It is expected that any cases involving family violence,currently before the Visa Applicant Character Considerations Unit (VACCU), may receive extra scrutiny when Direction 79 commences on Thursday this week.