The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has welcomed today’s New South Wales Government announcement of emergency funding to support people seeking asylum who have lost jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic and been left...
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#YearOfWelcome: May action
Thank you to all those who participated in our actions the last two months which involved reaching out to Federal politicians to call on them to ensure that there is #NobodyLeftBehind at this time.You can read more...
Face to Face goes digital!
Live presentations from refugee speakers now on online platforms Since 2014, the Refugee Council of Australia has been bringing refugee speakers to schools in the greater Sydney and Melbourne regions to share their...
Legislation an attempt to hide Government failure to act on COVID risks in immigration detention
The Federal Government’s announcement about legislation to extend search powers in immigration detention is a shameless attempt to distract attention from its failure to address the acute health risk to hundreds of...
Leading medical epidemiologist warns of major public health risk in excluding groups from COVID-19 response
A leading epidemiologist has warned of the risks to public health in excluding vulnerable groups.
#YearOfWelcome: April action
A call to action from a woman seeking asylum affected by COVID-19 My name is Shanika. I am seeking asylum here in Australia and have been living here for about 2 years. I am on a bridging visa while I wait which allows...
Public health at risk as JobKeeper legislation leaves temporary visa holders with no support
The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has renewed calls for the extension of crucial support to include all people in Australia, dismayed that the COVID-19 stimulus package legislated by Parliament today excludes...
Community health at risk if temporary visa holders left unprotected
Australia cannot afford to ignore the needs of temporary visa holders in the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) says. While welcoming the Federal Government’s...
Leaving no-one behind: Ensuring people seeking asylum and refugees are included in COVID-19 strategies
Last updated on 9 April 2020 Since mid-March 2020, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has been hosting regular national meetings with refugee communities, frontline services and advocacy organisations, to discuss...
Extend COVID-19 supplementary payments and Medicare to all people in Australia in need, Refugee Council of Australia says
The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has called for the Federal Government to extend the supplementary payments under its new Coronavirus package and access to Medicare to all people in Australia in need, including...
COVID-19 information for refugees and people seeking asylum
This page provides links to useful resources for refugees or people seeking asylum about the COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) and how it might affect them.
Face-to-Face coordinator – Deena Yako – featured in Be A Mensch campaign
Our Face to Face coordinator Deena Yako has been featured by the Sydney Jewish Museum as part of their ‘Be a Mensch’ campaign. A mensch, in Yiddish, is a person of integrity, morality, dignity, with a sense...
ICC ruling should prompt Australian Government to accept New Zealand resettlement option
Human rights and refugee sector unite to call on Australian Government to get people detained in offshore detention to safety in the wake of ICC ruling. Australia’s peak human rights and refugee rights organisations...
#YearOfWelcome: February Action
Often, it feels as if the complexity of refugee policy, international law and complicated classifications and jargon serve as a distraction from what is really important – the human beings who have been displaced from...
Making refugee resettlement work for Queensland: Refugee Alternatives Conference comes to Brisbane
As Queensland continues to help resettle refugees in regional areas, hundreds of experts – including many with refugee experience – will convene in Brisbane this week to forge alternatives for refugee and...
Refugee Alternatives 2020
In its fourth year, the conference is heading north to the Sunshine State. After Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, we are thrilled to be partnering with QUT (Queensland University of Technology) to be presenting the...
Department of Health removes people in detention from list of people at serious risk of COVID-19
UPDATE 25 March 2020: The Refugee Council of Australia communicated our concerns to the Department of Health on 25 March 2020. We received a response the same day saying that the Department’s advice about people in...
#YearOfWelcome: January Action
Create a message of welcome for people arriving to Australia as refugees Every year, around 12,000 people arrive in Australia as part of our Refugee & Humanitarian Program. They are settling in to rebuild their...
