Movement Alert List
The Department of Home Affairs administer the Movement Alert List (MAL). MAL is a computer database that stores biographic details of identities and travel documents of immigration concern to Australia.
MAL is a key tool we use to apply the legislation governing the entry to and presence in Australia of non-citizens. It supports the management of individuals who are of concern for character or other reasons.
The information on MAL
There are over one and a half million identities of interest listed on MAL.
People with serious criminal records might be on the MAL list. Other people listed include those whose presence in Australia might constitute a risk to the Australian community. The list also includes people who may not enter Australia as they are subject to exclusion periods prescribed by migration legislation. This can occur for multiple reasons, including health concerns, debts with the Australian Government or other adverse immigration records.
Over 880,000 documents of concern are also recorded on MAL. These include reports of lost, stolen or fraudulently altered travel documents.
MAL records details of identities and documents of concern. The Department obtains this information through liaison with security, law enforcement agencies, other Australian Government departments, and departmental officers in Australia and overseas.
If there is a MAL match, the Department consults with any other relevant agency and decides whether to grant entry.
Activating MAL
The system checks MAL automatically when a departmental officer enters the details of a visa applicant into a visa processing system at an overseas post or a regional office in Australia. It also checks if a client (or a travel agent/airline on behalf of the client) applies for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) or an eVisitor visa. If MAL identifies a match, the Department considers that information when deciding whether to grant the visa.
Applying for a visa overseas
Anyone who is not an Australian citizen must have a visa to travel to and enter Australia. (Under the Trans-Tasman Agreement, New Zealand citizens have right of entry to Australia, subject to meeting health and character criteria. They are granted an electronic visa at airport immigration clearance on arrival).
Migrants, students, people coming for temporary work contracts and other long-term temporary stays, and visitors are all checked against MAL when they apply for a visa to Australia.
These checks also apply to tourists and business visitors from ETAS and eVisitor eligible nationalities.
Tourists and business visitors can obtain an ETA or an eVisitor visa from a travel agent or airline at the same time as they make their travel bookings.
See: The Electronic Travel Authority
Their requests for visas are automatically checked against MAL as the travel agent enters the information.
If there is any matter that requires clarification, the visa is not granted, and the traveller is referred to the nearest Australian overseas mission.
Criminal convictions
When deciding whether to grant a visa or allow a passenger arriving at an air or seaport to enter Australia, departmental officers consider each case on its individual merits. The Department does not apply a blanket policy of refusal or approval.
As part of this process, departmental officers consider any adverse MAL record. For example, the number of convictions recorded, the length of sentence served, the level of violence (if any) and when the offence was committed. Departmental officers balance this information against the person's reason for travelling to Australia.
Tough penalties apply to people giving false or misleading information in a visa application or passenger card. Their visas may be cancelled immediately, and they can be removed from Australia and excluded from Australia for a specified time.
