Fears refugees will be denied justice under ‘exorbitant’ hike of court fees for migration cases

There are fears a more than fourfold expansion in the expense of bringing a movement case under the steady gaze of the Federal Circuit Court will sabotage outcasts and shelter searchers’ admittance to equity. 

The Law Council of Australia and the Asylum Seeker Resource Center have denounced a choice by the national government to climb movement case charges from $690 to $3,330. 

ASRC specialist Carolyn Graydon said the FCC cost increment gambled denying due legitimate cycle to individuals looking for refuge and on those transitory visas hoping to offer choices. 

The central government has safeguarded the cost change, saying it is important to reinvest in the equity framework in the midst of an expanding caseload of utilizations. 

The quantity of relocation cases recorded in the FCC developed from 3,544 of every 2014-15 to 6,555 out of 2019-20, as per government information. 

The public authority says it will likewise empower the goal of around 1,000 more relocation cases for every year and a full exclusion expense will be kept up for candidates encountering money related difficulty. 

She said expanding expenses isn’t the best approach to manage the build-up of cases under the steady gaze of the court. 

The LCA likewise said it considers the $1,826 application expense charged by the AAT’s movement division for a meeting to be “outlandishly high” in contrast with different divisions of the court. 

Mr Porter’s representative said the current FCC expense for movement matters was lower than that at the AAT. 

“This change will change the Federal Circuit Court application expense with the goal that it is set at the midpoint between the charge set by the AAT and the higher expense set by the Federal Court,” the representative said.