Women’s offenders are not welcome in the country anymore
Last month Australia gave a step forward in the lack of tolerance policy for domestic violence. A new law bans travelers with a history of domestic violence charges against women or children and stops them f
The idea is to prevent these visitors from any country of entering Australia, no matter where they’re from, where they committed the crime or what their sentence was. Additionally, foreign offenders currently living in the country, no matter for how long, will be asked to leave.
In the past, Australia made headlines when denying entry visas to convicted famous people, like singer Chris Brown and boxer Floyd Mayweather.
The new laws add to existing legislation that withholds or removes visitor visas if the visa holder has been sentenced to 12 months or more in jail. For the last 5 years, 4150 entry visas were denied to criminals.
Immigration Minister David Coleman said in a public statement that, “If you’ve been convicted of a violent crime against women or children, you are not welcome in this country.”
Coleman says the barring of foreigners with a domestic violence sentencing is just one step in the government’s plan to lower domestic violence-related crime in Australia. Last month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison promised funding for emergency accommodation for those escaping domestic violence and long-term safe housing.
Tourism in Australia
In 2017 there was around 8.8 million international travelers visiting Australia, a 6.6% increase on the previous year. A significant part of those visitors, around 14 million, comes from neighbor New Zealand. The preference is reciprocate: New Zealand is the most popular travel destination for Australians as well. International travelers spent around 41.3$ billion in Australia during 2017. Besides New Zealand, the most important senders of tourists to Australia are China, The United States, The United Kingdom, Japan and Singapore.
As expected, the busiest touristic season is summer time. December, January and February attract around 30% of international visitors while August is the least favorite month of the year for travelers from other countries.
The tourism sector forecasts 55$ billion in revenue for 2019 and one in 13 Australians are employed in the travel and hospitality industry. And it’s not just big cities that foreigners flock to. For every tourist dollar, 43 cents is spent in regional areas.
The areas that attract more international visitors to Australia are:
- New South Wales, with 4.2 million visitors in 2017. Sydney is the most famous city.
- Victoria, with 2.9 million visitors in 2017. Its famous capital is Melbourne.
- Queensland, with 2.7 million guests. Its most famous city is Brisbane.
- Western Australia, with 950,000 visitors. Its famous capital is Perth.