This guide provides statistics on the number of boats that have been ‘turned back’ since the practice of removing unauthorised maritime arrivals in Suspected Illegal Entry Vessels (SIEVs) from Australian waters was introduced by the Howard Government (from 2001–2003) and reintroduced by the Abbott Government (in December 2013).

The focus of this study is the direct cost of offences committed by organised crime offenders, and the cost of prison sentences associated with these offences.

The government is consulting on a proposal to introduce an Electronic Travel Authority facility for some groups of travellers. It is a new security and facilitation measure that, if it is introduced, will help to speed things up at the border.

Effective immigration and border control are essential to Australia’s national security. The possibility of combining both functions within one entity have been considered on a number of occasions historically.

The objective of this audit was to examine the extent to which the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development, now the Department of Home Affairs (the Department), has implemented the recommendations made by the ANAO in a previous audit.