House debates

Monday, 18 June 2018

Private Members' Business

Citizenship (Question No. 940)

Photo of Julian HillJulian Hill (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

asked the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, in writing, on 26 February 2018:

To ask the Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs —What precise data fields are (a) collected in applications for citizenship by conferral, (b) stored in his department's systems, and (c) searchable in his department's systems.

Photo of Alan TudgeAlan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs) Share this | | Hansard source

The answer to the honourable member's question is:

(a) The information collected in applications for citizenship by conferral is identified in the applications forms 1300t (Application for Australian citizenship - General eligibility) and 1290 (Application for Australian citizenship – Other situations), available on the Department's website.

(b) Most information collected in applications for citizenship by conferral is stored in Departmental systems, however not all information collected is routinely entered into Departmental systems. This may include, for example, information about the applicant's parents or children not included in the application, if the application was made on a paper form.

(c) Most information which is stored in Departmental systems from citizenship forms is searchable, however not all is retrievable in bulk data downloads and some can only be accessed in individual client records. This is because some information is entered in comments/free text fields that cannot be reported on.