Australians--protect Your Passport

[david96]

People who fail to notify authorities when their passport is lost or stolen may face a $60 penalty, while those who repeatedly lose the document would be issued with restricted passports under proposals being considered by the Federal Government.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is pushing the hardline action to try to reduce the number of missing passports.

Passports Branch assistant secretary Bob Nash said 23,289 passports were lost in 2002-03 and a further 9190 stolen.

Under the proposals before the Government, people who lose two or more passports would be issued with a replacement document that was valid for just one year instead of 10 years. But they would still be charged the full price of $148.

The Government is also looking at imposing a surcharge of $50 to $60 on people applying for a new passport who do not notify authorities within one month that their old one has been lost or stolen.

Foreign Affairs was embarrassed by an Auditor-General's report last year that revealed 2079 passports disappeared in 2001-02 after being posted to applicants by the Government.

Mr Nash said the number of passports that were lost in the mail last year had been reduced by 85 per cent after a decision that they would only be sent by registered mail but he conceded that some still went missing. He said one option was to make applicants pick up the document from the post office.

An Australia Post spokesman said the "vast majority" of lost passports were found but "with a few it becomes a mystery what happened to them". Australia Post said it did not believe it was at fault.

The passport crackdown comes as the Government is investigating how Saleh Jamal, who was arrested last weekend in Lebanon on terrorist charges, was able to leave Australia despite being on bail over a shooting at a Sydney police station. It is believed Jamal fled Australia using a genuine passport belonging to someone else.

Mr Nash declined to speak about that case but said there was a growing problem of "impostors" using legitimate passports. "It happens when somebody who happens to look a bit like the bearer, simply assumes that identity. They don't do anything to the document and this is happening in increasing numbers," he said.

Mr Nash said new technology that compares a photo taken at the place of departure with the image in the passport would overcome the problem.

People who fail to notify authorities when their passport is lost or stolen may face a $60 penalty, while those who repeatedly lose the document would be issued with restricted passports under proposals being considered by the Federal Government.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is pushing the hardline action to try to reduce the number of missing passports.

Passports Branch assistant secretary Bob Nash said 23,289 passports were lost in 2002-03 and a further 9190 stolen.

Under the proposals before the Government, people who lose two or more passports would be issued with a replacement document that was valid for just one year instead of 10 years. But they would still be charged the full price of $148.

The Government is also looking at imposing a surcharge of $50 to $60 on people applying for a new passport who do not notify authorities within one month that their old one has been lost or stolen.

Foreign Affairs was embarrassed by an Auditor-General's report last year that revealed 2079 passports disappeared in 2001-02 after being posted to applicants by the Government.

Mr Nash said the number of passports that were lost in the mail last year had been reduced by 85 per cent after a decision that they would only be sent by registered mail but he conceded that some still went missing. He said one option was to make applicants pick up the document from the post office.

An Australia Post spokesman said the "vast majority" of lost passports were found but "with a few it becomes a mystery what happened to them". Australia Post said it did not believe it was at fault.

The passport crackdown comes as the Government is investigating how Saleh Jamal, who was arrested last weekend in Lebanon on terrorist charges, was able to leave Australia despite being on bail over a shooting at a Sydney police station. It is believed Jamal fled Australia using a genuine passport belonging to someone else.

Mr Nash declined to speak about that case but said there was a growing problem of "impostors" using legitimate passports. "It happens when somebody who happens to look a bit like the bearer, simply assumes that identity. They don't do anything to the document and this is happening in increasing numbers," he said.

Mr Nash said new technology that compares a photo taken at the place of departure with the image in the passport would overcome the problem.

source "THE AGE" Melbourne 06/06/2004