Section 18 — Excised offshore places
Text of provision
non-citizens
(1) If the Minister has reason to believe that a person (in this subsection called the first person) is capable of giving information which the Minister has reason to believe is, or producing documents (including documents that are copies of other documents) which the Minister has reason to believe are, relevant to ascertaining the identity or whereabouts of another person whom the Minister has reason to believe is an unlawful non-citizen, the Minister may, by notice in writing served on the first person, require the first person:
(a) to give to the Minister, within the period and in the manner specified in the notice, any such information; or
(b) to produce to the Minister, within the period and in the manner specified in the notice, any such documents; or
(c) to make copies of any such documents and to produce to the Minister, within the period and in the manner specified in the notice, those copies.
(2) A notice under subsection (1) must set out the effects of section 21 of this Act and sections 137.1 and 137.2 of the Criminal Code.
Plain English
Section 18 provides for the excision of certain places — including Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Ashmore and Cartier Islands — from the migration zone. Persons who enter an excised offshore place are not entitled to make a valid visa application in Australia and are instead subject to the offshore processing regime.
The excision framework was introduced by the Howard Government in 2001 and expanded over subsequent years to include additional territories.
Practical effect
Excision has the effect of preventing persons who arrive at excised places by sea from making a protection visa application in Australia. Instead, they may be transferred to offshore processing centres (Papua New Guinea or Nauru under current arrangements). The constitutionality and human rights compatibility of excision have been extensively litigated. Persons who arrive at excised places become "offshore entry persons" subject to the s 198AA regime — they cannot be brought to mainland Australia for processing without ministerial intervention.