Legal and financial issues

Refugee and humanitarian entrants face a range of legal and financial issues related to their pre-migration and settlement experience, ranging from access to migration advice, financial, police and justice, transport and proof of identity issues.

Migration advice | Financial issues | Police and justice | Transport | Documentation

Migration advice

For refugee and humanitarian entrants seeking to reunite with family members living overseas, having access to professional migration advice is important because of the complicated bureaucratic and legal processes involved with applying for both family stream and humanitarian stream visas. The lack of access to affordable and professional migration advice for refugee and humanitarian entrants is a major concern.

One of the outcomes of the lack of availability of affordable and professional migration advice is people being forced to seek services from unqualified providers, that is, those lacking the specialised skills required to work with former refugees and/or who do not have a good understanding of the specific legal technicalities of humanitarian migration. The result of poor quality advice is often seriously-jeopardised visa applications.

A lack of migration services also means that processing times for visa applications are drawn out as additional information is sought. Often applicants will wait months to hear whether their application has been successful or not, causing enormous stress and compromising refugee entrants’ capacity to settle.

Financial issues

It is common for refugee and humanitarian entrants to arrive in Australia with little or no financial resources and have to rebuild their lives in the context of considerable financial hardship. Many new arrivals lack awareness about how to manage financial issues such as budgeting, insurance, loans and contractual arrangements, resulting in them accruing significant debts.

Newly arrived refugee and humanitarian entrants are also vulnerable to exploitative behaviour by individuals and companies due to their lack of understanding of financial and contractual arrangements in Australia. For example, door-to-door salespeople often ask customers to sign contracts on the spot, in which refugee entrants may agree to contracts with a limited understanding of what the terms actually entail. Such misunderstandings can result in the accumulation of large bills which families struggle to pay.

The impact of unpaid debts and bills on credit ratings can have implications for refugee entrants when attempting to access services in the future. Some families experience escalating financial issues where people feel ashamed of their legal or financial issues and do not disclose information (including or especially within their community) until their situation has reached crisis point (e.g. eviction or arrival of a sheriff at their house).

Police and justice

Prior to arriving in Australia, refugees have often experienced years of persecution and injustices at the hands of corrupt government officials, police and bureaucracies. It is understandable, then, that many refugees arrive with a wariness of police and government bureaucracies and it takes time to rebuild trust and understanding. Many refugees also have a limited understanding of the justice system and may be reluctant to report crimes or admit to their own legal problems due to misunderstandings about the potential consequences.

Transport

Being able to access affordable public or private transportation options is essential for new arrivals to feel part of a community and be able to access employment opportunities as well as education, health and other services. Many refugee and humanitarian entrants settle in outer metropolitan or regional areas where housing is affordable, but at the same time face considerable difficulties accessing transport.

Public transport options in areas where refugee communities settle is frequently limited and many new arrivals struggle to attain a driver’s licence and car. This is particularly difficult for those with limited English, where the costs of attaining a licence are prohibitive, and where new arrivals have limited access to people with a full licence and car who can help them gain the prerequisite driving practice. Some new arrivals may not fully understand the laws in Australia regarding driving with a licence, having come from countries where licencing laws are very different or non-existent. This can result in some people driving without a licence and facing the legal consequences.

Documentation and proof of identity

An issue that some refugee and humanitarian entrants face relates to incorrect proof of identity documentation arising from their migration experience. For example, some visas contain grossly inaccurate information about an individual’s age due to poor recording of birth dates in countries of origin or mistakes made by overseas processing officers.

Mistakes made during overseas processing of humanitarian visas can impact upon eligibility for certain services by placing individuals within an incorrect age bracket, as well as creating problems when attempting to establish proof of identity. Examples include young people over the age of 18 not being able to access some services independently (Centrelink benefits, driver’s licences, schools, health services) because their documentation says that they are still legally dependents.

For more information and links to resources on legal and financial issues, see our Settlement Resources page.