Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs

The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) is an Australian government department, part of the part of the Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs Portfolio. It was created on 26 November 2001 when the government combined the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) and the Department of Reconciliation and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs. In 2004 it had an annual operating budget of $700 million.

As of November 2004, the minister holding this portfolio was Amanda Vanstone. Her predecessor was Phillip Ruddock.

According to their website, DIMIA is responsible for:

• entry, stay and departure arrangements for non-citizens;
• border immigration control;
• arrangements for the settlement of migrants and humanitarian entrants, other than migrant child education;
• citizenship;
• ethnic affairs;
• multicultural affairs;
• Indigenous affairs and reconciliation.

DIMIA and its predecessors were the centre of controversy from 2001 because it was primarily these departments that implemented the Australian governments policies of mandatory detention of unauthorised arrivals and the Pacific Solution. The department was also accused of mistreating asylum seekers at Australian immigration detention facilities.

See also

• Australian immigration
• SIEV-X
• Children overboard affair

External links

• DIMIA – About the department