Asylum seekers who have arrived in Australia since August 2012 have, until recently, been barred from applying for protection visas. More than 2000 asylum seekers are resident in South Australia on a combination of Bridging visas and community detention. Following the changes to the Migration Act made in late 2014, these asylum seekers are required to apply for temporary protection visas under the
Department of Immigration’s new "fast track" process. All but a few of these applicants will receive no assistance from the government to make their applications, and the cost of obtaining migration advice commercially is out of reach for many asylum seekers. The consequences of making a mistake in an application are terrible. There are very limited rights of review. Asylum seekers have been identified by the Red Cross as one of the most vulnerable groups in Australia. Their ability to access Australia's protection depends upon their ability to negotiate the highly technical application process. It is inevitable that without skilled assistance many genuine refugees will be wrongly refused protection. The application process is highly distressing, and the lack of professional assistance puts already vulnerable families at increased risk. In order to prevent significant injustice, asylum seekers must have a real and genuine chance to establish that they are refugees and engage Australia's protection obligations. Without professional advice they will not have this chance. In order to ensure that asylum seekers have any chance of being fairly assessed, we identified that migration assistance was essential. RASSA has, with the support of Community Benefit SA, the Broadley Trust, the Law Foundation of South Australia, Flinders University Law School and private donors, employed two part time staff to provide, together with our volunteers, a free migration assistance service for those you cannot afford commercial migration advice. RASSA has deductible gift recipient status, and we gratefully receive donations large or small. Contact RASSA to request assistance or to donate:
[email protected]
0401 247 224
Postal address:
12 Coglin Street, Adelaide SA 5000
www.rassa.org.au
The Department of Community Services and Social Inclusion has contributed funds towards this Project. We also acknowledge the support of the Broadley Trust, the Law Foundation of South Australia, the Australian Refugee Association and Flinders University of South Australia.
