Migration Amendment (Validation of Decisions) Act 2017

No. 95, 2017

An Act to amend the Migration Act 1958, and for related purposes

[Assented to 5 September 2017]

The Parliament of Australia enacts:

This Act is the Migration Amendment (Validation of Decisions) Act 2017.

(1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Commencement information
Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
Provisions	Commencement	Date/Details
1. The whole of this Act	The day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.	6 September 2017

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.

(2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.

3 Schedules

Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1—Validation of decisions

Migration Act 1958

1 Before section 504

Insert:

503E Validation of decisions

(1) If:

(a) section 503A is not a valid law of the Commonwealth (in whole or in part); and

(b) the Minister made a decision under section 501, 501A, 501B, 501BA, 501C or 501CA before the commencement of this section;

the decision is not invalid, and is taken never to have been invalid, merely because:

(i) relied on; or

(ii) had regard to; or

(iii) failed to disclose in accordance with any applicable common law or statutory obligation;

information that was covered, or purportedly covered, by subsection 503A(1) or (2); or

(d) the Minister made the decision on the basis of an erroneous understanding of:

(i) section 503A; or

(ii) the protection that section 503A would provide against an obligation to disclose information.

(2) However, subsection (1) does not affect rights or liabilities arising between parties to proceedings in which:

(a) judgment is reserved by a court as at the commencement of this section; or

(b) judgment has been delivered by a court before the commencement of this section;

and the judgment sets aside, or declares invalid, a decision made by the Minister under section 501, 501A, 501B, 501BA, 501C or 501CA.

[Minister’s second reading speech made in—

House of Representatives on 21 June 2017

Senate on 16 August 2017]

(148/17)