In March 2008, CWS/NCCA visited over 30 politicians in Canberra as part of a refugee sector delegation that inlcuded A Just Australia, Refugee Council of Australia, the Uniting Church in Australia and Amnesty International. A breifing paper is available along with fact sheets on various issues raised.

Delegation to Canberra, April 2007

CWS/NCCA has been in ongoing dialogue with the Australian Labor Party on a range of issues in the leadup to the Federal Elections in October 2007. Prior to the ALP National Conference (27-29 April, 2007) in Sydney, CWS/NCCA and A Just Australia held talks with 12 key ALP leaders in Canberra. The key issues of concern raised were:

1.       Bridging Visas and the right to work, access Medicare and obtain income support

2.       Temporary Portection Visas

3.       Complementary Protection

4.       The Pacific Solution

CWS/NCCA put together a fact sheet on complementary protection for ALP members and, after a request from the ALP, AJA and CWS/NCCA prepared an alternative model to the current 45-day rule, which denies asylum seekers permission to work if they do not lodge an applicatiojn within 45 days of arriving in Australia. We believe that the 45-day rule should be abolished and replaced with a discretionary system werein work rights can be granted or revoked if there is reason to believe the application has not been made in good faith and a mechanism to appeal such a decision that would allow an asylum seeker to prevent their case for being able to work.

Outcomes of the ALP National Policy Dialogue:

As a result of the concerted efforts of many community groups, some very positive changes were made to the Labor Party’s policy platform. These include, amongst others:

1.       a commitment to permanent protection for refugees, rather than temporary protection

2.       a commitment to review the current appeals system and to put in place a new Refugee Determination Tribunal with appeals to Federal magistrates;

3.       commitment of resources to organisations assisting refugees, “recognising the value of volunteer contribution without exploiting their goodwill”;

4.       statements of commitment to non-refoulement, to speedy, independent, humane and fair processing, and to “the letter and the spirit” of our international refugee obligations.

5.       Following an amendment from the floor, the ALP also pledged to revoke the cruel 45-day rule which currently means that asylum seekers in the community who claim asylum more than an arbitrary 45 days after their arrival are not entitled to basic subsistence support for food and shelter.

However, while committing to end the Pacific Solution, the platform still endorses the excision of Christmas Island, Ashmore Reef and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands from the migration zone.

Uniting Church Submission to the 2006 ALP Policy Consultation on refugee and asylum issues, see: http://nat.uca.org.au/unitingjustice/reconcilinghumanity/asylumrefugees/index.htm