The Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018 – commonly referred to as the Urgent Medical Treatment Bill (UMT)- is set to be voted on in the House of Representatives in the first...
Refugees in Australia
Understanding refugee communities
Who are our refugee communities? ‘Refugees’ describes the situation of people, but it doesn’t define who they are. Australia has many different refugee communities. Whether you are looking to learn...
Australia’s asylum policies
How we treat them depends on how they come Australia treats refugees in two very different ways. For many decades, Australia has been a leader in bringing some of the most vulnerable refugees in the world from overseas...
Settling in Australia: The challenges
Introduction This guide explains the most common challenges that refugees often face in settling in Australia. While many of these challenges are similar to those of other migrants, refugees often face other challenges...
Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS)
Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) is the program that supports vulnerable migrants who are waiting for the government's decision on a visa application, including people seeking asylum.
Why people need to leave
Why do people leave? The reasons, and how the law treats those reasons, is complex. This post discusses persecution, conflict, environmental change, and development as causes for flight.
Australia’s offshore processing regime
Offshore processing (referred to by the Australian Government as “regional processing”) is the term used to describe the arrangements by which Australia sends people seeking asylum who arrive by boat to either Nauru or...
Australia’s detention policies
Australia's Migration Act 1958 requires all "unlawful non-citizens" (that is, people who are not Australian citizens and do not have a valid visa) to be detained, regardless of circumstances, until they are granted a...
Refugees and international law
Introduction Refugees have rights and protections under international law. These rights and protections are found in the Refugee Convention and in major international human rights treaties. The main UN organisation that...
How Australia determines if a person is a refugee
Refugee status determination The process by which a person is recognised as a refugee varies from country to country. In many developing countries, it is the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees...
