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Please note: this website was created in 2003 and there have been several changes in relevant Australian legislation since that time (probably Canadian too). The website is kept online as an overview of the situation at that time but has not and will not be updated.

Welcome to Comparisons

Turbulent global events see thousands of people flee their homelands every year in search of a better life elsewhere.

How do wealthy countries like Australia and Canada deal with asylum seekers who arrive on their shores? Given that both countries are signatories to the 1951 UN Convention on the Rights of Refugees, what similarities and differences are there between the way they determine who is eligible, the steps asylum seekers must take to have their cases heard and the type of lives they have while their fates are being decided?

This site allows you to actively explore the refugee experience from the time of arrival to the point of decision and to compare alternative processing models.

Tours

Find out how you will be treated in different countries if you arrive seeking asylum. Take a tour of Canada and Australia's processing systems.

Take the Australian Tour
Take the Canadian Tour

Visa Types

Find out more about the many different types of visas issued by the Australian Immigration Department.

Statistics

View statistics on asylum seekers: where they come from, what becomes of them and more

The Survival Project

Survival: The Refugee Experience consists of three related projects providing a comprehensive overview of the personal, political and historical aspects of the refugee experience, and raises awareness of the situation faced by asylum seekers and refugees in Australia. The projects draw upon research material and resources provided by the content matter expert, psychologist and human rights advocate Maritza Thompson.
This site was researched, designed and developed by Anne Simpson and Steve Coates.

Last modified June 1, 2003