Latest News

2012-13 Submission on the Refugee and Humanitarian Program

RCOA's annual submission on Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program is now available for download here.

2012-14 Refugee Week theme: 'Restoring Hope'

RCOA has chosen 'Restoring Hope' as the Refugee Week theme for 2012 to 2014. For further details, visit the Refugee Week website.

Plight of refugees with adverse ASIO findings raised with Canberra

RCOA has written to Attorney-General Nicola Roxon on the predicament of recognised refugees who remain in immigration detention because of adverse ASIO findings. Read the letter here.

Nauru is not an option

RCOA acted strongly to reject any return to offshore processing in Nauru following revelations the Federal Government was willing to negotiate with the Opposition on asylum seeker policy. Read our media release.

Refugee and asylum seeker policy on a positive pathway

RCOA has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government that it had begun to wind back its policy of indefinite mandatory detention for asylum seekers who enter Australia by boat. Read our media release.

'Here in Australia I am able to dream.'

Anisa and her family faced daily discrimination in Iran due to their religious beliefs. They were resettled in Australia in 2002.

Read more about: Anisa's story

Follow @OzRefugeeCounc

Annual intake submission and consultations

The national consultation process

Each year, RCOA invites people from across Australia to participate in its annual national consultations on the future of Australia's refugee and humanitarian program. These consultations inform RCOA's annual submission to the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship on issues the Australian Government should consider in planning the coming year's refugee program.

2012-13 submission and consultations

RCOA's 2012-13 intake submission brings together community views gathered from consultations involving more than 730 people, representing nearly 200 organisations and 33 refugee communities, across Australia’s eight states and territories. It includes recommendations to the Australian Government on international refugee needs, regional co-operation in Asia-Pacific, the composition of Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program and factors in post-arrival settlement support.

Due to the large number of consultations held and the volume of feedback received, RCOA has compiled two supplementary documents to the main submission, focusing on asylum policy and post-arrival settlement support. RCOA has also produced a compilation of national and global statistics on refugees and asylum seekers.

Prior to the consultations, RCOA developed a discussion paper outlining our key focus areas and consultation questions. This paper can be downloaded here.