13 May 2025
The Refugee Council of Australia has joined with 39 prominent refugee, legal, human rights and faith-based organisations across Australia to congratulate the Prime Minister, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP, on the return of his Government in the 2025 Federal Election; to jointly affirm the values of fairness, equality and respect he espoused in his election night speech; and to express our commitment in working towards an Australia that is fairer, kinder and more welcoming to all.
Read the letter in full below:
13 May 2025
Hon. Anthony Albanese MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Dear Prime Minister,
On behalf of our 40 organisations, we congratulate you and members of your Government on your re-election and the strong mandate you received from the Australian people.
On election night, you spoke about the importance of our national unity being built on the enduring foundations of fairness, equality and respect for one another. These values deeply resonate with the organisations and communities we represent and support. This is true for all Australians, particularly people from refugee and asylum backgrounds aspiring to build new lives, contribute meaningfully and help shape a stronger nation.
We recognise the progress made on enhancing refugee protection in the previous Parliament, including increasing the annual Refugee and Humanitarian Program to 20,000 places, granting permanent Resolution of Status visas to 20,170 refugees previously limited to temporary protection, establishing the Administrative Review Tribunal, dedicating additional resources to address the backlog in protection visa applications, and improving support for people fleeing emergencies in Ukraine and the Middle East.
However, for others who have come to Australia seeking protection, there is still work to be done, including for those failed by the previous Coalition Government’s fast track processing regime, people classified as “transitory persons” who remain in limbo, and those who remain detained offshore.
Later this year, Australia will reach a significant milestone when the Government grants the one millionth permanent refugee visa since regular refugee resettlement began in 1947. This extraordinary achievement, made possible through the commitment of successive governments, has reshaped our country. Today, millions of Australians contribute to our nation because they, their parents or grandparents were given the opportunity to shape new lives free from persecution and war.
The new Australian Parliament led by your Government can build on this 80-year legacy and drive positive reforms.
By continuing to be a leader in refugee resettlement, continuing positive reform of Australia’s asylum systems, and supporting improvements internationally to how refugees are treated where they first seek protection, Australia can contribute to providing safe alternatives to forcibly displaced people in our region and beyond. Our organisations hope to work with your Government to accomplish the refugee policy goals in Labor’s national platform by:
- Strengthening Australia’s long-standing commitment to refugee resettlement and expanding complementary migration pathways
- Fairly and practically resolving protracted protection cases and repairing fundamental flaws in the asylum system, including providing a pathway to permanency for those failed by the fast track system and those in the ‘transitory group’ with no durable solution
- Providing access to a more meaningful safety net for people in need while they undergo the protection assessment process
- Advancing regional cooperation across the Asia-Pacific to enhance access to durable solutions and longer term protection for refugees, with attention to those at heightened risk, including people at risk due to their sexual orientation or gender identity
- Delivering on Global Refugee Forum pledges on resettlement, community sponsorship, refugee labour mobility, education, mental health, immigration detention, refugee participation, gender, statelessness and international cooperation.
Additionally, we remain deeply troubled by the continuation of the costly and damaging offshore processing system. As groups working directly with people subject to this policy, we have seen the damage that offshore processing policy has caused over the past 13 years. Discussion about constructive alternatives is long overdue, and we look forward to engaging with your Government on this issue.
Our organisations are committed to working with your Government to help achieve these shared goals, drawing on decades of expertise, lived experience, community partnerships and civic participation.
Together, we can fulfil our shared vision in upholding Australia’s humanitarian principles and strengthening our democratic resilience and multicultural society — one to which refugees and migrants have contributed significantly.
Yours sincerely,
Signatories
Refugee Council of Australia
Amnesty International Australia
Amnesty Newcastle and Central Coast
Armidale Rural Australians for Refugees
Asylum Seekers Centre
Australian Refugee Action Network
Ballarat Rural Australians for Refugees
Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group
Brigidine Asylum Seekers Project
Centre for Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Detainees
Common Grace
Communify
Darwin Asylum Seeker Support and Advocacy Network
Forcibly Displaced People Network
Grandmothers for Refugees
Great Lakes RAR
House of Welcome
Human Rights Law Centre
Jesuit Refugee Service Australia
Mayoral and Councillor Taskforce Supporting People Seeking Asylum
National Amnesty Refugee Network
National Refugee-led Advisory and Advocacy Group (NRAAG)
Northern Rivers for Refugees
Northsiders with Refugees
People Just Like Us
Pilgrim’s Progress
Refugee Action Campaign Canberra
Refugee Advice & Casework Service
Refugee Advocacy Network
Refugee Legal
Rural Australians for Refugees
Rural Australians for Refugees Griffith
Rural Australians for Refugees Southern Highlands
SCALES Community Legal Centre
Social Change Institute
St Vincent de Paul Society National Council
Tassie Nannas
Uki Refugee Project
Uniting Church In Australia
University of Canberra Refugee Action Club
