Dear AJA supporters,

At long last, reform has been finalised on two major asylum policy issues - detention debts and work rights.  The Bill abolishing detention debts for asylum seekers was passed in the Senate yesterday morning, and the Opposition’s motion to disallow the abolition of the 45-day rule was defeated yesterday evening.  This is indeed a week to celebrate!  AJA sends a heartfelt thank you to all those who wrote to politicians about these issues, and to our generous donors who have enabled us to operate and advocate on your behalf.

However, there are still some key issues in asylum policy that require further reform and so AJA will continue to ask for your support in the very near future.  Just this morning, the government introduced a Bill on Complementary Protection.  If this Bill is passed, Australia will have a fairer and more efficient process for ensuring that we abide by our non-refoulement obligations under international human rights treaties other than the Refugee Convention.  Keep reading this newsletter for more information.

The Bill to abolish detention debts was passed in the House of Representatives on 25 June 2009.  Yesterday morning, the final hurdle was overcome when the Bill was passed in the Senate.  Senator Judith Troeth (Liberal Senator for Victoria) remained firm in her commitment to support the Bill, and crossed the floor to vote in favour.  The Greens and Independent Senator Nick Xenephon also voted to pass the Bill.  So did Family First Senator Steve Fielding, though not without some initial opposition.  During the preceding debate, Fielding had put forward amendments to the Bill that would effectively have neutralized much of the Bill’s reform capacity.  He was unable to proceed with his amendments because of lack of support from either the Coalition or the Greens.

Some Liberal Senators effectively abstained from voting by requesting to be ‘paired’ with an absent Labor Senator.  These were Senators Sue Boyce (QLD), Simon Birmingham (SA), Guy Barnett (TAS), Russell Trood (QLD), Gary Humphries (ACT) and Mathias Cormann (WA).

AJA was surprised and disappointed to see that Senator Alan Eggleston voted against the Bill.  Senator Eggleston was a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration during its inquiry and first report into immigration detention, which recommended that ‘the practice of charging for periods of immigration detention should be abolished’ and that ‘legislation to this effect should be introduced as a priority’.

Yesterday evening, Senator Fierravanti-Wells (Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration) moved to disallow the Migration Amendment Regulations 2009 (No.6).  However, without sufficient support in the Senate, the Opposition’s motion was defeated.  That means that the abolition of the 45-day rule, and the introduction of a more equitable, rational system for determining access to work rights for community-based asylum seekers, are here to stay.

Once again, Senator Troeth spoke strongly on the need to respect human rights and rational policy decision-making.  At one point in her debate speech she said:

Debates on the plight of asylum seekers in Australia too often invoke the defence that we ought not send the wrong message to those who seek shelter within our borders from tyrannies abroad. Let us grasp a new opportunity to understand the difference between sending the wrong message to those who truly wish us harm and sending the right message to those who need our help. Australia does not have to choose between strong, secure borders and compassion for those seeking liberty and freedom. We can have both.

We couldn’t have said it better!  AJA expresses its appreciation of Senator Troeth’s commitment to stand up for an Australia of which we can be proud.

Immigration Minister Chris Evans and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young also spoke in support of retaining the abolition of the 45-day rule.  You can read all the debate speeches on the Senate Hansard for 8 September 2009 (starts page 50).

To see the new arrangements for work rights for community-based asylum seekers, see

This morning, the government introduced the Migration Amendment (Complementary Protection) Bill 2009 into the House of Representatives.  Its purpose is to reform Australia’s Protection Visa application process which currently lacks any formal and transparent mechanism to engage our our non-refoulement obligations under specific international conventions other than the Refugee Convention (e.g. the Convention Against Torture or the Convention on the Rights of the Child).  Without this reform, we continue to risk returning vulnerable people to situations of danger or even death.

A Just Australia and other advocacy groups have long called for a system of Complementary Protection to be introduced.  Playing God with Sanctuary – A Report on Complementary Protection, was published by A Just Australia, Oxfam Australia and Oxfam Novib in 2008.  The report examines the legal and human rights framework surrounding Complementary Protection – why is it so important, how does it protect human rights, who does it affect, and what are our legal obligations as signatories to certain international conventions?  The report also outlined a proposed model of Complementary Protection, endorsed by 32 advocacy organisations.  See a copy of the report on our website.

Click here to see Minister Chris Evans’ media release on the Bill
Click here to see the text of the Bill
Click here to see the Explanatory Memoranda

AJA will provide further details and an analysis of the proposed Bill in subsequent newsletters.

Almost five months have passed since the SIEV 36 exploded in Australia’s northern waters near Ashmore Reef on 15 April.  Five of the 47 asylum seekers on board were killed and many more were injured.  Since then, Northern Territory police have been investigating the incident.  This week, allegations surfaced in the media that undue force was used against asylum seekers trying to escape into inflatable rescue boats.  AJA is seriously concerned by these allegations and urges the Defence Minister to release video footage and any other investigation material as soon as possible.

Roughly a month after the Australian Labor Party’s 2009 National Conference (held in Sydney from 30 July to 3 August), the ALP’s 2009 National Platform and Constitution has been finalised and is available on their website.  Despite coordinated lobbying efforts from advocacy groups and some ALP members, Labor has retained the policies of excision and non-statutory processing on Christmas Island of asylum seekers who arrive in excised locations (Chapter 7, para. 152).

AJA expresses its disappointment at the ALP’s retention of excision, a policy that has been declared by UNHCR to be in breach of Australia’s obligations under the Refugee Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The policy of excision is incompatible with several other commitments stated in the National Platform, including:

• Labor will treat people seeking our protection with dignity and in accordance with the core Australian principles of fairness and humanity. (Chapter 7, para. 155)
• Australia will comply with the non-refoulement and all other protection obligations we have voluntarily assumed in signing the Refugee Convention and other relevant international instruments’ (Chapter 7, para. 156)
• Labor will adhere to Australia's international human rights obligations and will seek to have them incorporated into the domestic law of Australia, and have them taken into account in administrative decision-making and whenever new laws and policies are developed. (Chapter 7, para. 133)