Immigration is a key issue in Australia. Until the 1960s, the government encouraged migrants to assimilate into Australian society, but due to the fact that many migrants had not even basic knowledge of the English language, this policy became unrealistic. As a consequence, the policy of multiculturalism was introduced. While it recognised that ethnic […]
Not only is prolonged detention of asylum seekers morally objectionable, it is causing long-term damage to the mental health of people seeking protection in Australia from persecution and danger. In an innovative study, Dr Tony Ward looks at the likely damage done to the mental health of people who have made successful claims for asylum, […]
Media Release Long-term health costs of extended mandatory detention of asylum seekers. A new report urges Australians to consider the long-term consequences of asylum policies. Many of the submissions to the recent national taxation summit emphasised the importance of careful long-term costings of policies. Heeding this advice, this report estimates the Long-term health costs of […]
This National Directory of Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support Services of the Australian Churches was written by Dr Kirsty Sangster for the Yarra Institute for Religion and Social Policy, with the aid of a grant from the Melbourne College of Divinity. The project was supervised by Dr Rowan Ireland and Dr Bruce Duncan, and the […]
Prime Minister Gillard’s announcement that the government will release from detention children and family groups seeking asylum in Australia is being welcomed by church and community groups. Yet many Australians would have been shocked to learn that 738 children were being held in immigration detention centres around Australia, some for long periods. Phil Glendenning led […]
Asylum seekers arriving by boat make up a tiny percentage of our annual immigration, yet Australia has treated them very harshly. On 12 August 2010 Caz Colman spoke to Social Policy Connections on alternatives to current ways of receiving asylum seekers. Caz is the Director of the Hotham Mission Asylum Seeker Project, a Melbourne-based agency […]
By Bruce Duncan, C.Ss.R. What a shock it has been to witness the revival of hysteria about people in boats trying to reach Australia to claim our protection and asylum. Not only have some of the ‘shock jocks’ and media been working up their audiences, but various politicians have again played on racial or religious […]
Earlier in 2010, we convened a meeting with SPC members to help set priority areas. We came up with four areas of particular importance: Immigration & Refugee Policy Responses to Climate Change Australia’s Overseas Aid and the Millennium Development Goals Australia’s Indigenous people Please click HERE to read more. Photo: “Leo” flickr CC
by Emmy Silvius SIEVX, or Suspected Illegal Entry Vessel X, is the name officially designated in Canberra for a rundown old Indonesian fishing boat that was used in October 2001 for smuggling people from Iraq and Afghanistan on the last part of their journey to Australia. SIEVX1 was the twelfth and last vessel used to […]
By summary by Emmy Silvius Recently I heard on ABC Radio National that a new form of trafficking in humans has emerged. I was completely astonished by the report that was given which related to a talk presented by Chief FederalMagistrate John Pascoe at a Conference in Cairns on 4th August 2008. It is quite […]
