Labor members of Australia?s Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs have released a report that details a number of recommendations to be made to a government bill that, if passed, will grant the immigration department the authority to collect biometric data.

The Migration Amendment (Strengthening Biometrics Integrity) Bill 2015 intends to combine individual personal identifier collection powers into an overarching discretionary power.

It will also enable the immigration department to collect various kinds of biometric identifiers under the guidance of the Migration Act, expanding the types of biometric identifiers that can be collected, the circumstances in which they are collected, and the regions where they can be collected.

Additionally, it will allow the department to collect biometric identifiers from those individuals who are incapable of giving consent, such as the disabled or children, without previously receiving the consent of a parent, guardian or independent person.

The committee?s report outlines a series of recommendations to introduce protections to lines detailed in sections 258E and 258F of the Migration Act 1958, such as protecting the privacy rights of those individuals undergoing an identification test and preventing any potentially cruel and degrading treatment.

Additionally, the report calls for the biometrics bill?s privacy impact assessment, which the department previously said it will undergo, be released before the Senate voting on the proposed law.