The Australian Minister for Transport and Regional Services said that the government will implement its Maritime Security Identification Card (MSIC) program on 1 January 2007. Of the 57,000 maritime industry workers who submitted applications for such cards by the 27 October 2006 deadline, over 56,000 have been issued their permanent cards. The remaining 1,000 will be issued temporary passes until their permanent cards are available. An additional 9,000 applications that were submitted after the deadline will be processed as promptly as possible.
Source: HK Law