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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. | |
Australia - Housing |
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What happens to asylum seekers after arrival? People who enter Australia on valid visas live in the community, while those that arrive without documentation are detained in immigration detention centres. This section looks at what support is available for those living in the community as well as the conditions and support available for those held in immigration detention centres. Since 1 September 1992 all people without valid visas seeking asylum in Australia have been immediately detained, including children. Detention lasts for an indefinite period; many individuals have been detained for years, the longest for five-and-a-half years. From November 1997 all detention facilities were privatised and are managed for the Department of Immigration Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) by Australasian Correctional Management (ACM), a subsidiary of the US parent company Wackenhut. DIMIA staff maintain a presence at each detention facility monitoring ACM's performance. Detainees are held in prison-like conditions in five detention facilities on the Australian mainland. The majority of Asylum seekers are housed at Port Hedland or the new Baxter facility located near Port Augusta, while the Villawood, Maribyrnong and Perth facilities mainly accommodate overstayers (people in breach of their visa conditions). Both the Curtin facility near Derby, Western Australia and Woomera, in South Australia have been recently closed. The two main centres housing asylum seekers, Baxter and Port Hedland, are in remote locations, making contact with lawyers and supporters difficult. According to DIMIA's service agreement with ACM, the government aims to achieve, quality outcomes in the standard of service delivery, as well as a high level of accountability. However, numerous reports by both government and non government organisations on the detention centres have raised serious concerns in regard to the treatment of those detained (see the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission site). In response to such concerns, the Woomera Residential Housing Project was launched in August 2001. The project is available only to detained women and their children (females of any age and their sons under 13 years of age), allowing up to 25 volunteer women and children to live in four supervised houses. Fathers are permitted to a weekly supervised visit. However, as at May 2003, only 15 people are participating in the project. Asylum Seekers who enter Australia on valid visas such as student, tourist or working visas live in the community. If they lodge their application for a protection visa within 45 days of arriving in Australia, they are given a bridging visa with permission to work and, as potential tax payers, access to Medicare. They are not eligible for any Centrelink payments. Anyone applying after the 45-day time period is denied permission to work and cannot access Medicare. They too are ineligible for Centrelink support. Asylum seekers are typically supported by family and community members and may have no income support. Limited assistance is available for asylum seekers living in the community, through the government funded Asylum Seeker Assistance (ASA) Scheme administered by the Department of Immigration Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) through contractual arrangements with the Australian Red Cross (see services). |
From the inside
We are the dying, We cry out from beneath the rubble of humanity We are innocents who have kissed We were the fan to the political fire, We who believed in the dream of freedom, By Mohsen - Detainee at Villawood in Sydney, June 2002. |
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