Australia is known for its long history of humanitarian resettlement, providing safety to asylum seekers and refugees from different countries. Migrant and refugees make a significant contribution to building a modern Australia.
Refugee is someone who has been forced to leave his or her country of origin due to fear of persecution, violence or political unrest. The universal definition of is contained in the 1951 Refugee Convention and offers universal coverage for those harbouring a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Internationally, refugees are given the rights of protection without discrimination.
Refugees can apply for refugee visas under Australia’s Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) which is part of the international protection for refugees.
There are two types of Protection visas for refugees:
There are two types of Protection visas for refugees:
The Offshore Resettlement Program has two categories. The first is the refugee category, and the second is the special humanitarian program (SHP) category.
The refugee category is for those that are subject to persecution in their home country.
The SHP category is for those who are not refugees, but are subject to discrimination, and violation of their human rights in their home country.
The Offshore Refugee and Humanitarian visa offer resettlement to people outside Australia who are in need of protection, they must be proposed by an Australian citizen, permanent resident or Australian organisation.
It also allows family reunion in certain circumstances.
The Onshore Protection visa is for people who are already in Australia and want to apply for protection or asylum. This visa is known as the Protection Visa (Class XA) (subclass 866). To be granted this visa you must meet the definition of a refugee set out in the Refugees Convention and meet the Complementary Protection criteria in the Migration Act 1958.
If you are granted with a Protection Visa then you will have a permanent right to stay in Australia, this will allow you to work, study, access Medicare, and receive Social Security payments.
Under the current government, two types of temporary protection visas are available to those who come by boat and claim asylum. Those who arrived by boat in Australia on or after 12 August 2012 can only apply for three years (subclass 785) temporary Protection visa or five years (subclass 790) Safe Haven Enterprise Visa. Under the current policy the former of both visas receive permanent (subclass 851) resolution of status visa.