Refugee Status Determination

Introduction

Since 2018, the Local Government Mayoral Taskforce Supporting People Seeking Asylum has been advocating for the rights of people seeking asylum to the Federal and Victorian State Government. 

Established and chaired by Greater Dandenong Council, the Taskforce is now made up of 36 councils nationwide, banding together to advocate for a fairer and swifter Refugee Status Determination system. 

Playing a pivotal role in the Taskforce’s advocacy efforts has been the Back Your Neighbour campaign. The campaign will seek to mobilise community support to influence federal policies around a fairer Refugee Status Determination process in the lead up to the 2022 Federal Election.

Background

Right now, in Australia there are over 90,000 people awaiting their applications for protection to be finalised. This includes people who have waited for over eight years. 

This overly slow approach to processing people’s applications prevents individuals and families gaining the stability that refugee status provides.

The result is vulnerable people living on the edge for years. 

People seeking asylum who live in the community are also denied access to a number of critical support services such as Centrelink, Medicare, public housing, homelessness, education, mental health and food. 

This leaves highly vulnerable individuals and families with nothing to survive on but help from local charities.

This cost shifting has also meant that State and local governments are left to pick up the pieces and respond to the additional demand for crisis support, with many aid organisations becoming overstretched in their ability to provide appropriate levels of support.

The Federal Government has a responsibility to process asylum claims quickly and to support people until they can move forward with their lives in a positive way.