Advocacy with UNHCR
Each year, representatives from RCOA attends key UNHCR meetings to put forward issues of concern to refugee communities in Australia and around the world.
Statistics on Australia's Refugee Program
See also our statistics on refugee settlement in Australia, statistics on Australia's onshore protection program and global refugee statistics.
Note: There may be some inconsistencies between the following tables due to variations in the data sources used.
Refugees and humanitarian entrants settled in Australia since 1901
| Category of refugees and humanitarian entrants | Number |
Refugees settled as migrants, |
20,000 |
Assisted humanitarian arrivals, |
269,266 |
Unassisted humanitarian arrivals, |
33,000 |
Offshore refugee and humanitarian entrants, |
392,538 |
Onshore protection visas issued, |
42,714 |
TOTAL |
757,518 |
Source: figures drawn from serial publication Australian Immigration: Consolidated Statistics and, for years prior to 1965 and from 1982 to 1985, from York, B. (2003). Australia and Refugees, 1901-2002: An Annotated Chronology Based on Official Sources. Australian Parliamentary Library Social Policy Group, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/Refugees_contents.htm; unassisted humanitarian arrivals estimate obtained from DIAC.
Australian immigration intake and humanitarian intake, 1948 to 1977
Financial Year |
Annual Settler Intake |
Humanitarian Arrivals |
% of total |
1948-49 |
114,818 |
33,816 |
29.5% |
1949-50 |
184,889 |
89,199 |
48.2% |
1950-51 |
153,290 |
36,912 |
24.1% |
1951-52 |
130,462 |
4,934 |
3.8% |
1952-53 |
95,890 |
664 |
0.7% |
1953-54 |
86,468 |
3,248 |
3.8% |
1954-55 |
124,180 |
1,534 |
1.2% |
1955-56 |
132,628 |
521 |
0.4% |
1956-57 |
120,601 |
11,070 |
9.2% |
1957-58 |
107,978 |
6,759 |
6.3% |
1958-59 |
116,697 |
4,118 |
3.5% |
1959-60 |
105,887 |
3,969 |
3.7% |
1960-61 |
108,291 |
3,413 |
3.2% |
1961-62 |
85,808 |
946 |
1.1% |
1962-63 |
101,888 |
1,375 |
1.3% |
1963-64 |
122,318 |
2,040 |
1.7% |
1964-65 |
140,152 |
1,609 |
1.1% |
1965-66 |
144,055 |
2,177 |
1.5% |
1966-67 |
138,676 |
1,805 |
1.3% |
1967-68 |
137,525 |
3,226 |
2.3% |
1968-69 |
175,657 |
7,613 |
4.3% |
1969-70 |
185,099 |
16,495 |
8.9% |
1970-71 |
170,011 |
11,812 |
6.9% |
1971-72 |
132,719 |
3,259 |
2.5% |
1972-73 |
107,401 |
2,512 |
2.3% |
1973-74 |
112,712 |
1,228 |
1.1% |
1974-75 |
89,147 |
514 |
0.6% |
1975-76 |
52,748 |
4,374 |
8.3% |
1976-77 |
70,916 |
8,124 |
11.5% |
Unassisted humanitarian arrivals 1947-75 |
33,000 |
|
|
ToTAL |
3,548,911 |
302,266 |
8.5% |
Source: figures drawn from serial publication Australian Immigration: Consolidated Statistics and, for years prior to 1965 and from 1982 to 1985, from York, B. (2003). Australia and Refugees, 1901-2002: An Annotated Chronology Based on Official Sources. Australian Parliamentary Library Social Policy Group, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/Refugees_contents.htm. Year-by-year figures show assisted humanitarian arrivals. There is no available year-by-year figures for unassisted humanitarian arrivals; however, DIAC’s estimate of 33,000 is added to the total for the period 1947-48 to 1974-75.
Australian immigration intake and humanitarian intake, since 1977
Financial Year |
Annual Settler Intake |
Humanitarian Arrivals |
% of total |
1977-78 |
73,171 |
9,597 |
13.1% |
1978-79 |
67,192 |
13,450 |
20.0% |
1979-80 |
80,748 |
19,954 |
24.7% |
1980-81 |
110,689 |
21,847 |
19.7% |
1981-82 |
118,031 |
21,917 |
18.6% |
1982-83 |
93,010 |
17,054 |
18.3% |
1983-84 |
68,820 |
14,769 |
21.5% |
1984-85 |
77,510 |
14,850 |
19.2% |
1985-86 |
92,410 |
11,840 |
12.8% |
1986-87 |
113,309 |
11,101 |
9.8% |
1987-88 |
143,490 |
11,076 |
7.7% |
1988-89 |
145,316 |
10,887 |
7.5% |
1989-90 |
121,227 |
11,948 |
9.9% |
1990-91 |
121,688 |
7,745 |
6.4% |
1991-92 |
107,391 |
7,157 |
6.7% |
1992-93 |
76,330 |
10,939 |
14.3% |
1993-94 |
69,768 |
11,350 |
16.3% |
1994-95 |
87,428 |
13,632 |
15.6% |
1995-96 |
99,139 |
13,824 |
13.9% |
1996-97 |
85,752 |
9,886 |
11.5% |
1997-98 |
77,327 |
8,779 |
11.4% |
1998-99 |
84,143 |
8,790 |
10.4% |
1999-00 |
92,272 |
7,267 |
7.9% |
2000-01 |
107,366 |
7,640 |
7.1% |
2001-02 |
88,900 |
6,732 |
7.6% |
2002-03 |
93,914 |
9,569 |
10.2% |
2003-04 |
111,590 |
10,335 |
9.3% |
2004-05 |
123,424 |
13,235 |
10.7% |
2005-06 |
131,593 |
12,113 |
9.2% |
2006-07 |
140,148 |
12,247 |
8.7% |
2007-08 |
149,365 |
9,507 |
6.4% |
| 2008-09 | 158,021 | 11,645 | 7.4% |
| 2009-10 | 140,610 | 9,856 | 7.0% |
TOTAL |
3,451,092 |
392,538 |
12.2% |
Source: figures drawn from serial publication Australian Immigration: Consolidated Statistics and, for years prior to 1965 and from 1982 to 1985, from York, B. (2003). Australia and Refugees, 1901-2002: An Annotated Chronology Based on Official Sources. Australian Parliamentary Library Social Policy Group, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/Refugees_contents.htm
Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program visa grants by stream, 1977-78 to 2009-10
Year |
Refugee |
Special Humanitarian Program |
Special Assistance Category* |
Total Offshore |
Onshore |
Grand Total |
1977–78 |
9,326 |
0 |
0 |
9,326 |
0 |
9,326 |
1978–79 |
12,750 |
700 |
0 |
13,450 |
0 |
13,450 |
1979–80 |
17,677 |
2,277 |
0 |
19,954 |
0 |
19,954 |
1980–81 |
20,795 |
1,675 |
0 |
22,470 |
75 |
22,545 |
1981–82 |
20,195 |
1,722 |
0 |
21,917 |
0 |
21,917 |
1982–83 |
16,193 |
861 |
0 |
17,054 |
0 |
17,054 |
1983–84 |
12,426 |
3,059 |
0 |
15,485 |
0 |
15,485 |
1984–85 |
9,520 |
4,687 |
0 |
14,207 |
0 |
14,207 |
1985–86 |
7,832 |
3,868 |
0 |
11,700 |
0 |
11,700 |
1986–87 |
5,857 |
5,434 |
0 |
11,291 |
0 |
11,291 |
1987–88 |
5,514 |
5,878 |
0 |
11,392 |
0 |
11,392 |
1988–89 |
3,574 |
7,735 |
0 |
11,309 |
0 |
11,309 |
1989–90 |
1,238 |
10,451 |
0 |
11,689 |
726 |
12,415 |
1990–91 |
1,497 |
8,287 |
0 |
9,784 |
1,500 |
11,284 |
1991–92 |
2,424 |
4,360 |
2,363 |
9,147 |
2,862 |
12,009 |
1992–93 |
2,893 |
2,392 |
5,657 |
10,942 |
903 |
11,845 |
1993–94 |
4,315 |
2,524 |
5,840 |
12,679 |
1,391 |
14,070 |
1994–95 |
3,992 |
3,675 |
5,545 |
13,212 |
1,646 |
14,858 |
1995–96 |
4,643 |
3,499 |
6,910 |
15,052 |
1,200 |
16,252 |
1996–97 |
3,334 |
2,470 |
3,848 |
9,652 |
2,250 |
11,902 |
1997–98 |
4,010 |
4,636 |
1,821 |
10,467 |
1,588 |
12,055 |
1998–99 |
3,988 |
4,348 |
1,190 |
9,526 |
1,830 |
11,356 |
1999–00 |
3,802 |
3,051 |
649 |
7,502 |
2,458 |
9,960 |
2000–01 |
3,997 |
3,116 |
879 |
7,992 |
5,741 |
13,733 |
2001–02 |
4,160 |
4,258 |
40 |
8,458 |
3,891 |
12,349 |
2002–03 |
4,376 |
7,280 |
0 |
11,656 |
869 |
12,525 |
2003-04 |
4,134 |
8,927 |
0 |
13,061 |
790 |
13,851 |
2004-05 |
5,511 |
6,755 |
0 |
12,266 |
912 |
13,178 |
2005-06 |
6,022 |
6,836 |
0 |
12,858 |
1,286 |
14,144 |
2006-07 |
6,003 |
5,275 |
0 |
11,278 |
1,739 |
13,017 |
2007-08 |
5,962 |
5,026 |
0 |
10,988 |
2,026 |
13,014 |
2008-09 |
6,499 |
4,511 |
0 |
11,010 |
2,497 |
13,507 |
2009-10 |
6,003 |
3,233 |
0 |
9,236 |
4,534 |
13,770 |
TOTAL |
230,462 |
142,806 |
34,742 |
408,010 |
42,714 |
450,724 |
*Between 1991 and 2001, a Special Assistance Category (SAC) visa was available for people who did not meet the Refugee or SHP criteria but were in situations of discrimination, displacement or hardship. Typically, SAC visa applicants were proposed by relatives resident in Australia.
Source: DIAC's Fact Sheet 60: Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program, http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sheets/60refugee.htm; DIAC's Population Flows: Immigration Aspects 2008-09,http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/statistics/popflows2008-09/.
Ten peak years for humanitarian arrivals since 1947
Financial Year |
Annual Settler Intake |
Humanitarian Arrivals |
% of total |
1949-50 |
184,889 |
89,199 |
48.2% |
1950-51 |
153,290 |
36,912 |
24.1% |
1948-49 |
114,818 |
33,816 |
29.5% |
1981-82 |
118,031 |
21,917 |
18.6% |
1980-81 |
110,689 |
21,847 |
19.7% |
1979-80 |
80,748 |
19,954 |
24.7% |
1982-83 |
93,010 |
17,054 |
18.3% |
1969-70 |
185,099 |
16,495 |
8.9% |
1984-85 |
77,510 |
14,850 |
19.2% |
1983-84 |
68,820 |
14,769 |
21.5% |
Source: digures drawn from serial publication Australian Immigration: Consolidated Statistics and, for years prior to 1965 and from 1982 to 1985, from York, B. (2003). Australia and Refugees, 1901-2002: An Annotated Chronology Based on Official Sources. Australian Parliamentary Library Social Policy Group, http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/Refugees_contents.htm