Actions for the 48th Parliament of Australia
Improve safety for refugees and people seeking asylum
Recognised refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia are harmed by many elements of Australia’s immigration policy. Three of its most harmful features are offshore processing and resettlement, temporariness and protracted family separation, and the denial of employment and a safety net.
Problem: offshore processing and resettlement
At least 14 people seeking asylum held in Australian offshore immigration detention centres have died. This includes Reza Barati, a 24 year old Iranian man who was murdered by detention centre staff in 2014, Faysal Ishak Ahmed, a 27-year-old Sudanese man who died in 2016 following a seizure after being repeatedly denied medical assistance, and Omid Masoumali, who died in Queensland after self-immolating in Nauru in 2016. In 2021 the Queensland Coroner found that Omid’s death was preventable; that almost three years without the prospect of safe resettlement had led him to despair; and that the Australian Government had known since at least 2014 that the medical facilities in Nauru were inadequate to meet people’s needs for mental health support.
In 2015, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture found that Australia’s asylum seeker policies violated the Convention Against Torture. Since 2012, there have been well-documented cases of child abuse and sexual assault, at least five attempted or completed suicides by self-immolation, and hundreds of people have needed urgent court injunctions for medical transfer to Australia because they have been denied healthcare in offshore detention centres.
The UN Human Rights Committee made a landmark decision in early 2025 that Australia is responsible for the arbitrary offshore detention of people seeking safety who were sent to Nauru and Papua New Guinea. With the decision, the UN issued a firm condemnation of Australia’s offshore detention practices. As of January 2025, there were at least 100 people being held in offshore detention centres, including people who had been there for over a year, and people who had been recognised as refugees.
In November 2024 the Australian Government passed the Migration Amendment Bill, which (among other things) allows Australia to pay unknown third countries to accept non-citizens, including recognised refugees. These laws let Australia detain people, including those with Australian citizen family members, and send them to third countries where there are no safeguards against those countries putting them back in detention, or deporting them again to places where they would face persecution.
Solution:
End offshore processing and close all offshore processing centres; withdraw from regional third-party reception arrangements and stop third country removals.
Problem: temporariness
Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEVs) and Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) are the two types of temporary protection visas available to people who come to Australia by boat. These temporary visas form part of government policy to disadvantage people seeking asylum who come by boat. Temporary visas have also been used in response to global crises limiting people’s pathways to permanent safety.
Temporary visas trap people in a limbo that can harm their mental health and create real risks of family separation. People who hold temporary visas cannot sponsor family members overseas to migrate to Australia. They also remain at risk of deportation out of Australia and away from family members, including Australian citizen family members. This includes migrant women who are victims-survivors of family violence and are fearful about deportation and separation from their Australian citizen children if they leave the relationship.
Solution:
Abolish all forms of temporary protection including Temporary Protection and Safe Haven Enterprise visas and grant all refugees permanent protection visas.
Problem: denial of employment and safety net
Many people who are non-citizens, including people seeking protection who are living in the community, may be not allowed to work at all. Many refugees and people seeking asylum are also denied access to social security payments, Medicare, and a range of other services that support people to live a safe and just life. Being unable to work, or to access income support, social and welfare services, and healthcare can drive people into poverty and homelessness and worsen mental health and trauma.
People on temporary visas who can work experience higher rates of workplace exploitation from their employers and are less able to access recourse. For example, they are excluded from accessing the Fair Entitlements Guarantee, a legislative safety net scheme of last resort. The scheme enables exploited workers to claim up to 13 weeks of unpaid wages and unpaid annual leave and long service leave entitlements in lieu of notice, and redundancy pay.
Solution:
Ensure the right to study, work and Medicare, and establish a safety net, so that people at all stages of seeking protection have access to legal assistance, financial assistance, mainstream social support, sustainable housing and healthcare.