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External scrutiny

Freedom of information

Deatils on freedom of information are available under Other information for annual reporting purposes.

Ministerial representations

Figure 28: Ministerial correspondence and briefings

The Minister for Justice and Customs received 1116 items of Customs-related correspondence. Customs provided the Minister with advice and recommendations on the 771 items that required a response. Major issues covered by this correspondence included:

• applications for permits to import goods
• information on import requirements
• the payment of customs duty and GST on imported goods
• anti-dumping investigations
• processing of passengers at airports
• coastal surveillance
• changes to legislation and regulations administered by Customs.

Customs also provided the Minister with 410 briefings on issues including:

• initiating anti-dumping investigations
• significant seizures of prohibited imports such as illicit drugs
• detections of illegal entrants
• proposed changes to legislation and regulations administered by Customs.

Judicial decisions and decisions of administrative tribunals

Further information on judicial decisions and the decisions of administrative tribunals is available in Appendix C. Information on judicial decisions that may have a significant impact on the operations of Customs is outlined below.

Malika Holdings

In March 2001 the High Court held that, in an action by Customs to recover the amount of duty allegedly payable in respect of imported goods which had been entered into home consumption, the owner is permitted to challenge the validity of the rate or the accuracy of the amount of duty demanded or the liability of goods to duty notwithstanding that the owner had not paid the duty under protest pursuant to section 167(1) of the Customs Act 1901.

The High Court additionally considered whether section 165 of the Customs Act 1901 (which requires demands for short-levied duty to be made within 12 months of the short levy) applied to all duty-recovery actions brought by Customs. The High Court found that section 165 had no application where an importer had misinformed Customs or where no duty had been paid by reason of fraud or negligent description by the importer. It found that section 165 applies to recovery actions where the short levy arose as a result of an error made by Customs.

Tony Longo trading as Aquila Shoes

In May 2001 the New South Wales Court of Appeal allowed an appeal by Customs against an order of the Supreme Court striking out its Statement of Claim. This claim alleged that Tony Longo trading as Aquila Shoes had unlawfully failed to pay duty in relation to the importation of shoes which had not been entered for home consumption as required by the Customs Act 1901.

The Court of Appeal found that the Customs legislation does not require that goods which should be entered for home consumption actually be so entered as a prerequisite for customs duty to be payable on them.

Privacy matters

The Privacy Commission did not raise any specific cases on Customs matters.

Customs commented on a number of draft guidelines papers circulated by the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner, including guidelines on pilot date matching programs, public key infrastructure and the National Privacy Principles (Private Sector Privacy).

A consequential amendment was also made to the Customs Act 1901 as part of the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 amendments to the Privacy Act 1988. A new section (273GAB) was added to the Customs Act 1901, which authorises the disclosure of personal information to Customs in circumstances other than an individual case or individual investigation. It covers information that relates to the movement of people and goods.

Commonwealth Ombudsman matters

Figure 29 outlines complaints and issues dealt with by the Commonwealth Ombudsman during 2000-01. Twenty-one complaints were referred to Customs. Six of there were formal written approaches to the CEO. The rest were informal approaches directly to the relevant area for immediate response.

Of the six formal approaches, two alleged unfair targeting for searches by Customs officers in airports. The others concerned rejection of a Tourist Refund Scheme claim, the execution of a search warrant, alleged unlawful duty collection and failure to reply to a complaint.

Figure 29: Complaints and issues raised with the Commonwealth Ombudsman

As shown in figure 29, Customs was found to be at fault in seven cases. The issues raised in these cases included:

• poor wording in an advice letter
• incorrect interpretation of legislation
• non-professional conduct by a staff member.

These issues were all addressed by Customs. Actions taken were applied not only to complainants but also to any similarly affected parties that could be identified.

Auditor-General’s reports

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) audited the financial statements of Customs in accordance with its annual financial statements’ review of Commonwealth Entities.

The ANAO conducted one performance audit specific to Customs – ANAO Report No 12 – Passenger Movement Charge – Follow-up Audit.

Further information on this report is available under Output 4.

Other reports released during 2000-01 of relevance to Customs were:

• ANAO Report No 13 2000-01 – Certified Agreements in the Australian Public Service
• ANAO Report No 14 2000-01 – Benchmarking the Internal Audit Function
• ANAO Report No 19 2000-01 – Management of Public Sector Travel Arrangements Follow-up Audit
• ANAO Report No 25 2000-01 – Benchmarking the Finance FunctionANAO Report No 47 2000-01 – Managing for Quarantine Effectiveness
• ANAO Report No 54 2000-01 – Engagement of Consultants.

The recommendations tabled in these reports may be generic recommendations to be adopted by Commonwealth organisations or specific recommendations targeted at particular agencies. The Customs Audit and Evaluation Committee monitored the implementation of recommendations relevant to Customs.

Further information on ANAO reports is available on the ANAO Internet site at www.anao.gov.au

Parliamentary Committee reports

Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit inquiry into Coastwatch

Further information on this inquiry, which was still in progress at 30 June 2001, is available under Output 3.

Senate Legal and Constitutional Committee

Customs appeared before the following Senate Legal and Constitutional Legislation Committee Estimates hearings:

• Supplementary Budget Estimates on 22 November 2000
• Additional Budget Estimates on 19 February 2001
• Budget Estimates (for 2001-02 Portfolio Budget Statements) on 28 May 2001.

Topics discussed at these hearings included:

• the outsourcing of IT functions by Customs
• cargo management re-engineering
• competitive tendering and contracting
• measures to combat foot and mouth disease
• the acquisition of marine vessels by Customs.

The Committee also conducted an inquiry into the Customs Legislation Amendment and Repeal (International Trade Modernisation) Bill 2001, Import Processing Charges Bill 2000 and the Customs Depot Licensing Charges Amendment Bill 2000. Customs made a submission and appeared before the Committee on 3 May 2001. The Committee released its report on the Bills on 23 May 2001 and recommended that the Bills proceed subject to a number of conditions. The conditions, relating to the Customs Amendment and Repeal (International Trade Modernisation) Bill 2001, were:

• making guidelines relating to the strict liability offence regime a disallowable instrument
• providing training to Customs staff with the delegated authority to issue infringement notices
• monitoring and reporting on the operation of infringement notice arrangements
• consulting with industry before gazetting IT specifications and requirements
• reviewing the operation and implementation of the legislation within three years of Royal Assent.

These conditions were addressed, with either the Bill amended or the Minister endorsing the recommendation of the Committee.

Customs also appeared before the Committee’s inquiry into the Measures to Combat Serious and Organised Crime Bill 2001 on 7 June 2001. The Committee recommended that the Bill proceed. However, a minority report recommended that Customs be excluded from provisions relating to controlled operations and assumed identities.

On 26 June 2001 the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee announced it would conduct an inquiry into the outsourcing of the Australian Customs Service’s information technology. Submissions to the inquiry were due by 29 August 2001.

Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee

The Senate Scrutiny of Bills Committee also considered the trade modernisation legislation package, as well as several other Customs-related pieces of legislation.

The Committee’s consideration of the trade modernisation legislation focused on the monitoring powers and strict liability offence provisions of the Customs Legislation Amendment and Repeal (International Trade Modernisation) Bill 2001.

The Committee also considered some Tariff Amendment Bills and commented on the Customs Tariff Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2001. The Treasurer responded to these comments.

Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee

The Senate Finance and Public Administration References Committee conducted an inquiry into IT outsourcing. Customs provided a submission to the inquiry and appeared before the Committee on 15 March 2001. Customs reported on its aims in the IT outsourcing process and concerns that the outsourced service provider had not been able to obtain the number of skilled IT resources required by Customs.

Productivity Commission

The Productivity Commission conducted two inquiries of relevance to Customs during 2000-01. Details on these inquiries are listed below.

• The Review of Australia’s General Tariff Arrangements – more information on this review is available under Output 4.
• Review of Cost Recovery by Commonwealth Agencies – Customs provided a submission to the review and attended hearings and workshops held by the Commission. The final report was expected in late 2001.

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