Section 204 — Determination of time for sections 201 and 202

204 Determination of time for sections 201 and 202

(1) Where a person has been convicted of any offence (other than an offence the conviction in respect of which was subsequently quashed) the period (if any) for which the person was confined in a prison for that offence shall be disregarded in determining, for the purposes of section 201 and subsection 202(1), the length of time that that person has been present in Australia as a permanent resident or as an exempt non-citizen or a special category visa holder.

(2) In section 201 and subsection 202(1): permanent resident means a person (including an Australian citizen) whose continued presence in Australia is not subject to any limitation as to time imposed by law, but does not include:

(a) in relation to any period before 2 April 1984—a person who was, during that period, a prohibited immigrant within the meaning of this Act as in force at that time; or

(b) in relation to any period starting on or after 2 April 1984 and ending on or before 19 December 1989—the person who was, during that period, a prohibited non-citizen within the meaning of this Act as in force in that period; or

(c) in relation to any period starting on or after 20 December 1989 and ending before the commencement of section 7 of the Migration Reform Act 1992—the person who was, during that period, an illegal entrant within the meaning of this Act as in force in that period; or

(d) in relation to any later period—the person who is, during that later period, an unlawful non-citizen.

(3) For the purposes of this section:

(a) a reference to a prison includes a reference to any custodial institution at which a person convicted of an offence may be required to serve the whole or a part of any sentence imposed upon him or her by reason of that conviction; and

(b) a reference to a period during which a person was confined in a prison includes a reference to a period:

(i) during which the person was an escapee from a prison; or

(ii) during which the person was undergoing a sentence of periodic detention in a prison.