Call centre hotline to report illegal citizens

Call centre hotline to report illegal citizens is now open

Channel Nine’s A Current Affair aired an”Australian Television Exclusive” back in 2016 allowing them inside a new call centre hotline to report illegal citizens officially known as the Immigration and Citizenship fraud reporting call centre.

Well, that hotline is still active with its new name, Border Watch.

Australian Government keen to continue tightening Border Management procedures

Australia’s visa over-stayer ‘dob-in hotline’ receives about 30,000 calls a year — but with 62,000 illegally staying here, they would like that number to be much higher.

Stephen Allen, commissioner of the Border Management Assistance, doesn’t believe Australia is a nation of dobbers, but thinks “we are a nation of people who take the protection of the community very seriously”.

“One of the most common themes is about illegal work — that would be the majority of the call-ins and dob-ins that we get,” Mr Allen said.

“We also get quite a bit of information about visa over-stayers as well.”

The hotline calls often provide the final piece of the puzzle: crucial information for field officers to carry out immigration raids.

About 5,000 calls to the dob-in hotline annually trigger immigration raids and the expulsion of visa dodgers and over-stayers.

“It is about keeping Australia safe,” Mr Allen said.

“It’s about giving the community the assurance that the people who enter this country are going to abide by their conditions.”

 

 

Things could be busier

While the dob-in hotline is busy, authorities don’t believe it is busy enough.

Right now, there are an estimated 100,000 illegal visa over-stayers on the run in Australia with about 75,000 of those working in agriculture.

At the top of the list is Malaysian nationals, with more than 7,000 outstaying their welcome. Authorities are also seeking 6,660 Chinese, more than 5,000 US nationals and close to 4,000 Britons.

Over the year, murderers, rapists and child sex offenders are among the more than 1,000 people who have been punted from Australia under a government crackdown helmed by former Immigration Minister Peter Dutton.

“People should hear that message very clearly when they come through the airport of the ports into our,” Mr Dutton said.

 

 

But there are migrant criminals who authorities are struggling to deport, such as convicted sex offender Ivan Abela.

He has been holed up in an Australian detention centre for years, fighting deportation to Malta – using all sorts of legal avenues, at massive expense to the Australian taxpayer.

“If we can change the law so that people still have their fundamental legal rights honoured, but have a sensible approach so we don’t have endless appeal after appeal, then the government is very keen to look at those reforms,” Mr Dutton said.

“We need to allow people their day in court, but not years and years of endless legal battles.”

Got someone to report? The free Border Watch/ Immigration dob-in line is 1800 009 623 or 131 881

It’s not known what impact COVID will have on illegal immigrant numbers with the Australian border closed for the time being.

As many illegal immigrants arrive by boat etc from other countries that may still be occurring as they don’t come through the traditional process anyway!

If you’ve got someone to report the opening hours for the call centre are Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm (excluding public holidays).

You can now also report someone using an online form >

Employers Immigration Hotline

As well as the Border Watch hotline, there is also a special hotline that employers can use to check the work rights of potential employees. Call 1800 040 070.

Recommended further reading:

• The Centrelink call centre disaster
• Learn more about the latest telemarketing SCAM to hit Australia
• Get the real reasons why Australian call centre jobs are heading overseas
• Learn how to get better service when you ring a call centre: Insider tips from a call centre agent