Leaked Immigration Department emails show staff told not to use word 'sympathise', reveal top-level monitoring of websites

Updated

Immigration Department staff have been told not to use the word "sympathise" in correspondence from ministers, in a directive passed on by senior bureaucrats last month.

Internal emails, leaked to the ABC, also show the high-level monitoring the department has been conducting to find out where and how people are viewing its websites that warn against travelling to Australia by boat.

An email sent from the Web Analytics section of the department last September, during the federal election campaign, shows the breakdown of the "countries and device type" of users hitting on pages related to the previous Labor government's "By Boat - No Visa" advertising campaign.

It lists the top number of page views as coming from Afghanistan, with nearly 5,000 hits all on non-mobile devices during one week.

Australia rates next, but is followed by Albania and Algeria.

The email also points out that there were 166 page views from Indonesia.

The collection of metadata has become an increasingly controversial area.

While some have expressed concern about privacy, government agencies such as the Australian Federal Police collect the electronic data to try and track criminal activity.

It is not known why the Immigration Department has gathered the information.

Staff told to say 'acknowledge' instead of 'sympathise'

Last month, another email was sent through senior ranks at the Immigration Department to distribute more to staff, about "ministerial correspondence that requires a Minsters signature" [sic].

Originating with the department's Correspondence, Liaison and Secretariat Support Section, the email was sent as a "matter of urgency".

It told staff drafting ministerial replies that correspondence "should not appear to endorse the policies from the previous government" in an underlined and bold type.

"The Ministers are seeking generally a more facilitative tone, where possible," it continued.

But it then warned staff to "be mindful that while conveying empathy don't make the tone emotional e.g. instead of 'sympathise' use 'acknowledge'".

The staff are likely to be working on letters from both Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Michaelia Cash.

Topics: immigration, community-and-society, government-and-politics, federal-government, australia

First posted