DATE

EVENT

The Adult Migrant Education Scheme was established following the first wave of non-English speaking migrants after World War II.

22 January 1954

Australia becomes a signatory to the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. It is the sixth nation to ratify the treaty and a founding member of the UNHCR's Executive Committee.

2 April 1954

Vladimir Petrov defects from the Soviet Union and is granted political asylum in Australia, starting the “Petrov Affair”.

16 October 1956

The Australian Government  “approved of the principle that political asylum and refuge should be available in appropriate instances to various categories of aliens namely Olympic Games visitors, members of visiting trade and other delegations, members of diplomatic and consular missions in Australia, certain other defectors and Asian leaders.” This was in anticipation of the Melbourne Olympic Games, during which several Hungarian Olympians claimed asylum because of the USSR’s invasion of Hungary.

13 December 1973

Australia signs the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. The Protocol removes the geographic and time limitations of the original Convention, broadening its scope to create capacity to respond to new refugee situations.

1978

The Australian Government implements a procedure for dealing with onshore applications for refugee status in accordance with the Australia’s obligations under the Refugee Convention.

The Galbally Report is released, reviewing existing settlement services and outlining a detailed program of action, particularly to response to the needs of the increased intake of South-East Asian refugees. The arrival of these refugees from 1975 had prompted an expansion of Federally-funded services for new arrivals, including English language teaching, on-arrival accommodation and orientation assistance, interpreting and translating services, assistance with overseas qualifications recognition, and new programs and services were introduced (including ethnic radio and the SBS, Migrant Resource Centres and grants to ethnic community organisations.). Read more about the Galbally Report here.

July 1978

Then Immigration Minister Michael MacKellar states that so-called ‘boat people’ are not ‘illegal immigrants’ and that it is not illegal to be a refugee. The Australian (24/4/79) reports MacKellar as saying “Refugees arriving by boat are no longer considered queue jumpers.”

1979

The Community Refugee Settlement Scheme (CRSS), a network of volunteer groups, was established to provide assistance to humanitarian entrants with finding accommodation and employment, general orientation and social support.

January 1979

The ‘red bikini girl’, 18-year-old Liliana Gasinskaya, makes headlines in Australia when she dives out of the porthole of a Russian cruise liner, swims ashore into a media storm and claims asylum.

1981

The Liberal Fraser government introduces the Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) in response to unrest in Iran. This will quickly become a major component of Australia’s humanitarian program and focuses on those who are not strictly Convention refugees.

1986

Refugee Week is first celebrated in Australia.

1989

The Migration Legislation Amendment Act is introduced by the ALP Hawke Government to deter and intimidate “illegal entrants”. This harsh legislation was prompted by the influx of asylum seekers arriving in Australia following the Tiananmen Square massacre and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The new regulations include mandatory deportation of “illegal entrants” and allow for the recovery of funds from asylum seekers to pay for the costs of their detention and deportation. A copy of the Act can be found here: www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/mlaa1989310/ 

1991

The National Integrated Settlement Strategy (NISS) is established to better coordinate the provision of settlement services across Commonwealth and state portfolios and departments and non-government agencies.

1992

Mandatory detention is introduced for non-citizens who arrive in Australia without a visa. The legislation, which has bipartisan support, disallows judicial review but limits detention at 273 days.

Following a major review, the Adult Migrant Education Program was renamed the Adult Migrant English Program and designated specifically as a settlement program for new arrivals. New arrivals without functional English gained a legal entitlement to 510 hours of English tuition.

1993

The humanitarian program is split from the migrant program.

1994

Mandatory detention is broadened and the 273 day limit removed.

1997

Management of immigation detention centres is outsourced to private companies.

1998

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission report “Those who’ve come across the seas: Detention of Unauthorised Arrivals” is released. A copy of the report can be found here: www.hreoc.gov.au/pdf/human_rights/asylum_seekers/h5_2_2.pdf

1998

Pauline Hanson suggests the introduction of Temporary Protection Visas. Phillip Ruddock, the Liberal Minister for Immigration, responds by saying: “Can you imagine what temporary entry would mean for them? It would mean that people would never know whether they were able to stay here... I regard the One Nation’s approach as being highly unconscionable in a way that most thinking people would clearly reject.”

13 October 1999

Phillip Ruddock announces the introduction of Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) for refugees who arrive without authorisation. TPVs allowed the recipient to stay in Australia for three years, after this time they were required to apply for further protection or return to their country of origin. TPV holders had no family reunion rights, no right of return if they travelled out of Australia and limited access to settlement services.

The Integrated Humanitarian Settlement Strategy (IHSS) is introduced as a suite of specialised, on-arrival services for humanitarian entrants. These services include accommodation and household formation support, torture and trauma counselling, and individual assistance to gain access to government and community services. These services are provided in recognition of the high and often multiple needs of humanitarian entrants and of the benefits of early intervention.

2000

Protests at Curtin and Woomera detention centres over slow processing and poor conditions, included hunger strikes and lip sewing.

2000-2001

Case of Shayan Badraie, a five-year-old boy who was detained for one year in Woomera and six months in Villawood resulting in severe psychological trauma. He was detained despite expert psychological advice and was taken eight times to Westmead Hospital. Eventually he was released into foster care without his family, who were granted refugee status a year later. In 2006, the family was awarded $400,000 in compensation.

2001

Protests and violence occur at Port Hedland and Curtin detention centres. Detainees escape from Villawood detention centre.

2 April 2001

Shahraz Kayani, a Pakistani granted refugee status in Australia, commits self-immolation outside Parliament House in Canberra to protest the delay in reuniting with his family. At this point, the process had already taken five years and was unlikely to succeed until Mr Kayani could raise $75,000 to pay for the care of his middle daughter who had cerebral palsy. He died within three months of infection caused by his burns.

20 June 2001

The first World Refugee Day is celebrated, having been decided upon by the UN General Assembly the previous December.

August 2001

The Tampa Crisis. The Norwegian flagged ship MV Tampa rescues 439 Afghan asylum seekers from international waters near Australia. Captain Arne Rinnan attempts to dock at Christmas Island but is refused entry into Australian waters by Prime Minister Howard, who insists the passengers must disembark elsewhere and sends the SAS onto the vessel. This results in a diplomatic dispute between Australia, Norway, and Indonesia and global media coverage. The asylum seekers are eventually loaded onto a Royal Australian Navy vessel. Most are transported to Nauru and held in two detention camps as part of what became known as the 'Pacific Solution'.

29 August 2001

The Border Protection Bill is introduced. This provided the Australian Government with the power to: remove any ship in the territorial waters of Australia; use reasonable force to do so; provide that any person who was on the ship may be forcibly returned to the ship; guarantee that no asylum applications may be made by people on board the ship. A digest of the bill can be found here: www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/BD/2001-02/02bd041.htm

1 September 2001

The 'Pacific Solution' is implemented. Under the policy, asylum seekers arriving without authorisation are sent to Australian-funded detention camps in Pacific Island states, rather than being allowed to claim asylum on the Australian mainland.

3 September 2001

The Australian Defence Force commences ‘Operation Relex’ to interdict vessels containing asylum seekers.  Interdiction prevents boats from reaching Australia’s territorial waters. Between September and December 2001, 13 asylum seeker boats tried and failed to reach Australia’s migration zone: four were intercepted by the Navy and forced back to Indonesia; five were held in custody then immediately sent to Nauru; two were sent to Christmas Island and then Nauru; one was sent to Christmas Island and then Papua New Guinea; and one was the SIEV X, which sank.

October 2001

The Children Overboard Affair. In early October 2001, senior Government officials allege that asylum seekers onboard SIEV 4 had thrown their children overboard in a ploy to secure rescue and passage to Australian territory. The Government releases photos as evidence of this event. It is later revealed that the photos were actually taken during the rescue of passengers as the SIEV 4 was sinking.

19 October 2001

SIEV X sinks between Indonesia and Christmas Island. An estimated 146 children, 142 women and 65 men drown. After having spent close to 24 hours in the ocean, 44 survivors are rescued by two Indonesian fishing boats and taken back to Indonesia. Many of the women and children who died were attempting to reunite with husbands and fathers in Australia who were on TPVs, and therefore unable to sponsor the resettlement of their families. The extent of the Australia's knowledge and involvement in the sinking of the SIEV X is unclear. It occurred at the height of an Australian program aimed at disrupting people smuggling operations in Indonesia. Concerned about the possibility of a link between this program and the sinking of the SIEV X, the Senate has passed three resolutions calling for the government to set up an independent judicial inquiry into both. This never occurred.

28 October 2001

In his campaign for re-election, then Prime Minister John Howard makes the statement “We will decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come.”

8-9 November 2001

UNHCR holds an expert round table in which it is highlighted that “refugees will frequently have justifiable reasons for illegal entry or irregular movement” and that “refugees are not required to have come directly from territories where their life or freedom was threatened.”

Early 2002

The Australian Government ‘freezes’ asylum seeker applications from about 2000 Afghans, sparking riots and protests including hunger strikes and detainees sewing their lips together

1 February 2002

Then UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, expresses concerns about the vilification of asylum seekers in Australia and urges the Australian Government to provide its citizens with accurate information.

19 March 2002

Captain Arne Rinnan, along with the crew and owners of the MV Tampa, are awarded the Nansen Refugee Award "for demonstrating courage and a unique degree of commitment to refugee protection."

March-April 2002

Approximately 50 refugees escape from Woomera detention centre.

June 2002

Hunger strikes occur at Woomera detention centre.

27 June 2002

Alamdar and Muntazar Bakhtiari are part of a mass break out of Woomera detention centre. The boys, aged 12 and 14, walk into the British consulate in Melbourne on 18 July but their claim for asylum is rejected. Subsequent legal battles with the Australian and British governments fail.

July 2002

UN Report on Mandatory Detention is released. Former Indian Supreme Chief Justice, Rajendra Bhagwati, wrote this report after visiting Australia’s immigration detention facilities in 2002 as a personal envoy of UN Human Rights Commissioner. The report argues that the policy contravened the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which outlaws arbitrary detention and the denial of access to legal review of incarceration; and the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which prohibits detention of children except as a last resort. Bhagwati reports that children are suffering mentally and physically, and that many are “traumatised and led to harm themselves in utter despair.” Then Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer, Attorney-General Daryl Williams and Immigration Minister Ruddock issued a joint statement attacking this report as “emotive,” “fundamentally flawed” and lacking objectivity.

August 2002

The Curtin detention centre is closed.

The Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs announces a review of settlement services for migrants and humanitarian entrants. The resulting Report on the Review of Settlement Services for Migrants and Humanitarian Entrants was released in May 2003. A copy of the report can be found at www.immi.gov.au/living-in-australia/delivering-assistance/government-programs/settlement-policy/review-settlement-services.htm

24 October 2002

The UN working group on Arbitrary Detention releases a scathing report on Australia’s detention centres stating “one could reasonably assume that if public opinion were fully and specifically informed about the conditions to which human beings are being subjected in Australia and the negative consequences for the image of a democratic country, public opinion would change.” A copy of the report can be found here:
www.unhcr.org/refworld/type,MISSION,,AUS,3e2e7ca54,0.html

April 2003

The Woomera detention centre is closed. At its peak, the centre housed more than 1,400 people who sought asylum in Australia after arriving, some of whom remained in detention for more than three years.

May 2004

The Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission releases the report of itsInquiry into Children in Immigration Detention. The inquiry found that children in Australian immigration detention centres had suffered numerous and repeated breaches of their human rights and that children detained for long periods of time were at a high risk of suffering mental illness. The inquiry found that the policy failed to protect the mental health of children, provide adequate health care and education and protect unaccompanied children and those with disabilities. A copy of the report can be found here: www.hreoc.gov.au/human_rights/children_detention_report/report/index.htm

June 2004

The Port Hedland detention centre is closed.

6 August 2004

The High Court rules that harsh detention conditions are not unlawful. The decision is handed down in the case of Behrooz v. Secretary Of The Department Of Immigration And Multicultural And Indigenous Affairs.

6 August 2004

The High Court rules that asylum seekers can be detained indefinitely. The decision is handed down in the case of Al-Kateb v Godwin. The Court holds that unsuccessful asylum seekers who could not be removed to another country, despite their wish to leave Australia, could continue to be held in immigration detention indefinitely.

November 2004

A Kuwaiti man receives $200,000 compensation from ASIO after being wrongly detained for two years. While he was immediately granted asylum in 1997, he remained in immigration detention after ASIO incorrectly deemed him a security risk.

30 December 2004

The Bakhtiari family is deported to Pakistan, after four years of detention, appeals and legal battles. Their children were detained for over two and a half of those years and the family became a key rallying point against children in detention.  

February 2005

It is revealed that a mentally ill German citizen holding Australian permanent residency, Cornelia Rau, had been held in detention as an unauthorised immigrant for 10 months.

11 May 2005

The Australian Government introduces the Removal Pending Bridging Visa (RPBV), to be granted at the discretion of the Minister for Immigration to people who have been in long-term detention and whose removal from Australia is pending but delayed. RPBV recipients are required to do everything possible to facilitate their removal from Australia. In the interim, they have work rights and access to Medicare, Centrelink benefits and trauma counselling services. They are not eligible for family reunion or to return to Australia if they leave.

June 2005

Release of long term detainees. Government MPs Petro Georgiou and Judith Moylan cross the floor against their own party resulting in the release of long term detainees and review of future cases by the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

20 June 2005

The longest serving detainee, Peter Qasim, is released. Fleeing from Indian Kashmir, he spent a total of seven years in detention. For years the Government refused to recognise him as a refugee and Indian authorities denied he was Indian. He is finally released on a bridging visa (into a psychiatric hospital) which denies him the right to permanent protection in Australia.

29 June 2005

The Migration Act is amended to allow for the detention of children only as a last resort. In reality, families continue to be placed in “community detention” (rather than a “detention centre”) where they are still denied freedom of movement and face strict conditions. A copy of the amendments can be found here:
www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/bill/maab2005428/

October 2005

The Commonwealth Ombudsman reveals that of those wrongfully detained, more than half of cases were held for a week or less, 23 were held for more than a year and two were detained for more than five years.

20 October 2005

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recommends that conditions in detention centres be brought up to international standards and that children should be assessed within 48 hours to ensure that there is a real need for them to be detained.

3 March 2006

The NSW Supreme Court approves an out-of-court settlement offer made by the Immigration Department to the family ofShayan Badraie. A $400,000 compensation payout is made for the psychological harm he suffered while detained in Woomera and Villawood detention centres between 2000 and 2002.

11 May 2006

The Australian Government attempts to expand Pacific Solution. In response to anger from the Indonesian Government over the granting of refugee status to 42 West Papuan refugees, the Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 2006 is introduced. The Bill states that all asylum seekers who arrive without authorisation by boat are to be processed ‘offshore’ in places like Nauru or Christmas Island. The amendments would result in asylum seekers undergoing an inferior assessment process, with those found to be refugees having no automatic right to refugee protection in Australia. A copy of the amendments can be found here: www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/bill_em/mauab2006521/

1 July 2006

Funding for Migrant Resource Centres and the Community Settlement Services Scheme (CSSS) is replaced by the Settlement Grants Program (SGP). Under the SGP, community organisations can apply for funding for projects to assist new migrants and refugees to settle in Australia.

14 August 2006

The Migration Amendment (Designated Unauthorised Arrivals) Bill 2006 is withdrawn after fierce dissent from community groups and some politicians.

2007

Construction is completed on the Christmas Island detention facility. Christmas Island is 2,400 kms from Perth, 360km from Jakarta and nearly 2,000km from Darwin. It was excised from the Australian migration zone in 2001. Construction of a permanent, purpose-built detention facility began in 2005. The new facility has been criticized by many human rights and refugee advocacy groups as resembling a maximum-security prison. Despite earlier commitments to detain children as a last resort, the purpose built facility included family units, a babies compound, childcare centre and classrooms.

August 2007

The costs of the Pacific Solution emerge. A report commissioned by Oxfam and A Just Australia, “A Price Too High: Australia's Approach to Asylum Seekers”, finds that: 
• The Pacific Solution cost the Australian taxpayer in excess of $1 billion over five years.
• It cost more than $500,000 per person to process them on Manus Island, Christmas Island or Nauru.
• It costs seven times more to process asylum seekers on Pacific islands than if it was done on the Australian mainland.
• The Pacific Solution failed to reduce the number of people arriving.
A copy of the report can be viewed here:
www.oxfam.org.au/resources/filestore/originals/OAus-PriceTooHighAsylumSeekers-0807.pdf

August 2007

The Baxter detention centre is closed.

December 2007

The ALP Rudd Government abolishes the Pacific Solution. This results in the closure of detention facilities on Manus Island and Nauru.

8 February 2008

The last refugees leave Nauru, ending the Pacific Solution.

13 May 2008

The Australian Government abolishes Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs). Immigration Minister Chris Evans states "the Temporary Protection visa was one of the worst aspects of the Howard government’s punitive treatment of refugees, many of whom had suffered enormously before fleeing to Australia. There is clear evidence that the TPV arrangements did nothing to prevent unauthorised boat arrivals.”

28 May 2008

The UN Committee against Torture releases its report on Australia praising the end of the Pacific Solution but also calling for an end to mandatory detention.

July 2008

The Government releases the Proust Report which examines the extent of the Immigration Minister’s powers when granting visas.

Eligibility to access IHSS is extended to onshore protection visa holders.

16 April 2009

An explosion on SIEV 36 near Ashmore Reef results in the death of up to five asylum seekers and injures 44 people.

8 September 2009

With the votes of some Opposition MPs, the Australian Government ends Australia’s practice of charging refugees for their time spent in detention. Previously, detainees were expected to pay back around $100 a day after being granted protection.  For some people this meant tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

October 2009

Australian Customs vessel the Oceanic Viking rescues 78 Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Indonesia’s search and rescue zone and attempts to take them to an Indonesian detention centre. The asylum seekers refuse to disembark and do so one month later with the Australian promise of speedy processing and settlement. A year later 25 were still detained in Romania.

9 April 2010

The Australian suspends the processing of asylum applications from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, for three and six month respectively. The individuals affected are left in detention and a backlog of applications is created. The suspensions are lifted on 6 July and 30 September respectively.

17 April 2010

UNHCR expresses concerns about the Australian government’s latest policy change and asserts that the treatment of asylum seekers should not be punitive or discriminatory.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard announces the ALP Government's intention to work towards building a regional protection framework in the Asia-Pacific, including the establishment of a regional processing centre in Timor-Leste “for the purpose of receiving and processing irregular entrants to the region”.

As a result of the 2010 Review of IHSS, a new Humanitarian Settlement Services Strategy (HSS) is introduced in April 2011 to replace the IHSS. The HSS has a stronger focus on case coordination.

February 2011

It is revealed that there are 900 people currently in detention who have been found to be refugees but are awaiting ASIO checks, for which there are no time limits.

March 2011

The Australian Government announces expansion of Darwin Airport lodge to house an extra 400 people. Presently the Lodge holds unaccompanied minors, men with mental health concerns and other vulnerable detainees moved from Christmas Island. The Government also announces the construction of a new 1,500 person facility at Wickham Point, in an industrial area 35km from Darwin.

March 2011

Peaceful protests at North West Point detention centre on Christmas Island turn into widespread unrest. Tthe Australian Federal Police take control of the centre using tear gas and rubber bullets on the asylum seekers. The Immigration Minister establishes an independent inquiry into the protests and Commonwealth Ombudsman later announces use of his own powers to also investigate the incident and its causes.

28 March 2011

Fifth death in immigration detention in just over six months.

April 2011

Protests, hunger strikes and unrest in many detention centres across Australia. The Immigration Minister proposes changes to the Migration Act that would see a detainee convicted of any crime (such as damage to commonwealth property at a detention centre) be denied permanent protection on character grounds. Presently the conviction must involve a sentence of over 12 months for such a finding to be made.