The Medical Evacuation Response Group (MERG) has responded to the Independent Health Advice Panel (IHAP) Report tabled in Parliament, stating the report shows that in the majority of cases, the Minister himself agrees...
Latest news
Face to Face expands its training program
The Face to Face project is expanding its partnership with JRS and House of Welcome to run a series of speaker training programs targeting people seeking Asylum. The speaker training program will be focusing on building...
Medevac law a ‘crucial lifeline’, Refugee Council of Australia says in Senate submission
The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) has defended the Medevac legislation as a crucial lifeline for seriously ill refugees in a submission made today to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee. The...
Muzafar Ali’s reflections on advocating in Geneva
Author: Muzafar Ali I am writing this reflection on my way back home, flying over a thin layer of cottony clouds, leaving Geneva and its very fresh memories behind. Looking back to March 2019, when I applied for John...
How generous is Australia’s Refugee Program compared to other countries?
An analysis of UNHCR’s 2018 Global Refugee Statistics Australian political leaders regularly claim that Australia has one of the most generous refugee responses in the world. But what do UNHCR’s official statistics for...
Thousands to gather against offshore detention to say #SixYearsTooLong
Six years ago, on 19 July 2013, Australia announced that any refugee arriving by boat will never be resettled in Australia, and instead will be detained indefinitely in offshore detention. Women, children and families...
Media Release: New UNHCR refugee figures highlight need for serious rethinking of Australian policy
Australia must turn its focus from harsh deterrence policies to positive and solutions-focused diplomacy if it is to have any influence on the growing global trend of forced displacement, the Refugee Council of...
From Syria to Sydney: Meet Rnita, the face of Refugee Week 2019
23-year old Rnita Dacho couldn’t have timed it better. Having fled Syria with her family and spent months in limbo in Lebanon, she touched down in her new home of Australia right in the middle of Refugee Week 2015 – the...
A new vision for community refugee sponsorship in Australia
Today the Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (CRSI) launched a new vision for an expanded and improved community sponsorship scheme at a community summit in Melbourne. The CRSI vision will allow ordinary...
Medical crisis on Manus and Nauru escalates: Morrison Government must act to avoid further tragedy
Joint media release by the Medical Evacuation Response Group After six years of offshore detention there is an unprecedented medical crisis on Manus and Nauru. Men and women, who have been detained by the Australian...
The Paladin affair
The Paladin Affair refers to concerns related to the granting of a lucrative government contract to security firm Paladin to provide security services to the three refugee centres on Manus Island.
Palm Sunday rallies 2019
Every year on Palm Sunday, people from Australia gather together in public places to demonstrate their support for the just and humane treatment of refugees. In this election year, and after years of punitive asylum...
Jobactive employment program a ‘harsh bureaucratic nightmare’, senate report finds.
Refugees are amongst out-of-work Australians suffering under a ‘harsh bureaucratic nightmare’ that is the Federal Government’s employment program – Jobactive. A Senate inquiry report states that...
Morrison’s inclusive rhetoric cast aside with a harsh Budget for refugees
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's plan to be more welcoming and inclusive since the Christchurch terrorist attack has been cast aside with a Federal Budget which deals harshly with refugees and people seeking asylum.
Australia’s Political Opportunists Foster an Environment of Fear, UN Human Rights Council Told
Political opportunists in Australia who have built their political careers on scaremongering and dehumanising minorities have fostered an environment hospitable to hatred, the Refugee Council of Australia has told the...
Medical Evacuation Response Group established for urgent medical transfers from Manus and Nauru
Key national organisations have banded together to oversee and ensure the timely and orderly assessment of applications for medical transfers under the “Medevac Bill” by creating the Medical Evacuation Response Group...
Call for Applications: John Gibson Refugee Community Leadership Grant 2019
Are you interested in advocacy on refugee issues at an international level? Are you from a refugee background? The annual John Gibson Refugee Community Leadership Grant supports advocates from refugee backgrounds to...
Disabled refugees face serious barriers to resettlement, new report finds
The Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA); the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA); the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA); and the Settlement Council of Australia (SCOA) have today...
