Refugee and Asylum Seekers

Our research has demonstrated that denying rights, security and stability to people seeing asylum and refugees not only significantly impacts their mental and physical health, but also puts enormous strain on the community organisations who support them.

States of Refuge highlights how refugees and people seeking asylum across different parts of Australia must navigate unpredictable, disparate and often conflicting access to essential services. It is a disparity faced by virtue of the state or territory in which they live. It also shows how difficult it is to navigate the disparate provisions of different Australian jurisdictions.

Australia’s current offshore processing regime has become reduced to a secret deal with Taiwan to ensure that people seeking asylum on Nauru never gain entry to Australia. RAP investigated and reported on the secrecy and scandal surrounding the Australian government’s newest move in offshore processing.

LGBTIA+ people seeking refuge in Australia face a unique set of issues. Among them is the horror of fleeing sexuality-based persecution only to be mandatorily resettled in a country that criminalises homosexuality.

Key aspects of Australia’s asylum seeker policies involve government acting outside Australia’s borders — on the high seas or on foreign soil. These places — where Australia exercises authority and control over people’s lives— are in many ways beyond the reach of the normal oversight arrangements and often beyond the reach of Australian courts. They are shrouded in secrecy. So what happens when we don’t know what the government is doing in our name?

Under international law, children are treated differently from adults. They have comprehensive rights that recognise their developmental needs. But to access these rights, they must be identified as a child, which is why age determination matters.

In Australia, the Minister for Immigration has the power to play God. Many of the Immigration Minister’s powers profoundly affect the lives of people seeking asylum. But they are not accountable in how he exercises them, and thier decisions are often either difficult or impossible to review.

In March 2014, the Federal Government made sweeping cuts to legal assistance for people seeking asylum. Our legal system is the only process that people who seek asylum have to make their claim for protection. The result can be the difference between life and death. Without lawyers, people have to represent themselves in a complex foreign legal system in a language that they may not speak.