A few operational hiccups aside, the early weeks of the Australian Border Force (ABF) have gone smoothly with officers have been sworn in, electronic systems tweaked and a fresh public face presented to the industry and public.
Fresh is a key word, given the work put into identifying and dealing with dishonest staff in the previous Customs and Border Protection agency, culling double-dippers running their own enterprises in tandem with their government jobs.
Morale, however is still a little volatile as seen in the protected industrial action undertaken by Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) members.
A proposed enterprise agreement has been circulated to employees. Transition arrangements that maintain a range of conditions for former Customs & Border Service employees have been in place since the July 1 legal start of the new agency.
ABF’s inaugural commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg has taken an upbeat approach to his new role, saying at his swearing in that “this is the first time Australia will have a dedicated agency which will target and disrupt visa over-stayers, unscrupulous migration agents, narcotics traffickers, people smugglers and everyone in between”.
Quaedvlieg said it was an honour to “witness the beginnings of a world-class agency” and described his far-flung team as “dedicated and highly trained professionals”.
Close links with federal and state police forces will continue.
ABF is a component of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection headed by Mike Pezzullo.
The new structure’s launch came only days before the department celebrated its 70th anniversary of establishment – as the Department of Immigration – by the then prime minister Ben Chiffley. “Australia came out of World War II with the belief that we needed to increase our population to avoid the threat of invasion,” said Pezzullo.
“As many of the staff of the former Immigration Branch were still undertaking active military service, the department commenced with only 24 officers - six based in Canberra, six in Melbourne and 12 in London - and an enormous task ahead.”
ABF is running an interesting series of flashbacks on its Facebook page every Friday.
On the web: www.border.gov.au www.facebook.com/AustralianBorderForce
Border Force settles in effectively
AirCargo 238 archives stories
Monday, 31 August 2015
A few operational hiccups aside, the early weeks of the Australian Border Force (ABF) have gone smoothly with officers have been sworn in, electronic systems tweaked and a fresh public face presented to the industry and public.
Fresh is a key word, given the work put into identifying and dealing with dishonest staff in the previous Customs and Border Protection agency, culling double-dippers running their own enterprises in tandem with their government jobs.
Morale, however is still a little volatile as seen in the protected industrial action undertaken by Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) members.
A proposed enterprise agreement has been circulated to employees. Transition arrangements that maintain a range of conditions for former Customs & Border Service employees have been in place since the July 1 legal start of the new agency.
ABF’s inaugural commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg has taken an upbeat approach to his new role, saying at his swearing in that “this is the first time Australia will have a dedicated agency which will target and disrupt visa over-stayers, unscrupulous migration agents, narcotics traffickers, people smugglers and everyone in between”.
Quaedvlieg said it was an honour to “witness the beginnings of a world-class agency” and described his far-flung team as “dedicated and highly trained professionals”.
Close links with federal and state police forces will continue.
ABF is a component of the Department of Immigration and Border Protection headed by Mike Pezzullo.
The new structure’s launch came only days before the department celebrated its 70th anniversary of establishment – as the Department of Immigration – by the then prime minister Ben Chiffley. “Australia came out of World War II with the belief that we needed to increase our population to avoid the threat of invasion,” said Pezzullo.
“As many of the staff of the former Immigration Branch were still undertaking active military service, the department commenced with only 24 officers - six based in Canberra, six in Melbourne and 12 in London - and an enormous task ahead.”
ABF is running an interesting series of flashbacks on its Facebook page every Friday.
On the web: www.border.gov.au www.facebook.com/AustralianBorderForce
ABF’s inaugural commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg has taken an upbeat approach to his new role, saying at his swearing in that “this is the first time Australia will have a dedicated agency which will target and disrupt visa over-stayers, unscrupulous migration agents, narcotics traffickers, people smugglers and everyone in between”.
