Section 4 — Object of Act
Text of provision
(1) The object of this Act is to regulate, in the national interest, the coming into, and presence in, Australia of non-citizens.
(2) To advance its object, this Act provides for visas permitting non-citizens to enter or remain in Australia and the Parliament intends that this Act be the only source of the right of non-citizens to so enter or remain.
(3) To advance its object, this Act provides for non-citizens and citizens to be required to provide personal identifiers for the purposes of this Act or the regulations.
(4) To advance its object, this Act provides for the removal or deportation from Australia of non-citizens whose presence in Australia is not permitted by this Act.
(5) To advance its object, this Act provides for the taking of unauthorised maritime arrivals from Australia to a regional processing country.
Plain English
Section 4 states the fundamental purpose of the Migration Act: to regulate, in the national interest, the entry into and presence in Australia of non-citizens.
The section also provides that to advance the national interest, the Act requires that non-citizens comply with any visa conditions, and that citizens (and others with a lawful right to enter) are free to do so.
Practical effect
The object provision in s 4 is used by courts when interpreting ambiguous provisions of the Act. The High Court has held that the Migration Act is a comprehensive code for non-citizen entry and presence, and that the national interest purpose informs every aspect of its operation.
The "national interest" framing gives the executive broad discretion — many provisions of the Act confer discretionary powers on the Minister or officers without specifying criteria, and the national interest purpose justifies this breadth.