26 March 2025
As we do every year, the Refugee Council of Australia has analysed the Federal Budget to determine what it means for refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia.
While there were few new announcements related to refugee policies and programs, there is still much to glean from the 2025-26 Budget allocations.
Our key takeaways:
- While we welcome additional funding to address social cohesion and critical support for multicultural communities, this allocation pales in comparison to Government spending on border enforcement, offshore processing and onshore detention and compliance
- Cumulative spending on offshore processing from 2012-2025 has blown out to $13.35 billion. This amount does not include costs associated with forcing people released from immigration detention to Nauru
- Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program will remain at 20,000 places, the level set in 2023-24, missing an opportunity for Australia to show leadership by increasing our Program during a time of unprecedented global need
- Funding will be extended for the successful refugee employment program Economic Pathways to Refugee Integration
- While overseas aid and development spending will increase by $136 million, the total aid spending of $5.1 billion in 2025-26 will represent just 0.65% of the Australian Government’s total budget
