Supporting People Seeking Asylum in the Australian Community: A Service Provider Perspective

Kehla Lippi, Hayley McKenzie, Fiona H. McKay () and Lisa Hanna
Additional contact information
Kehla Lippi: Deakin University
Hayley McKenzie: Deakin University
Fiona H. McKay: Deakin University
Lisa Hanna: Deakin University

Journal of International Migration and Integration, 2024, vol. 25, issue 3, No 15, 1401 pages

Abstract: Abstract Deterrence of asylum seekers, including via restrictive refugee determination processes, is increasingly common in many countries. In Australia, people who sought asylum by sea between 13 August 2012 and 1 January 2014 (the ‘legacy caseload’), have been subject to increasing restrictions on their social and economic rights. As a result, these people rely on support from non-government organisations, whilst they progress through Australia’s refugee determination process. This research explored service providers’ role in mediating the impacts of asylum policy on the legacy caseload. Findings from 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews, conducted between December 2018 and February 2020, highlight how service providers in both statutory and community sectors in Victoria challenge and subvert deterrence policies, even as the policy environment constrains their ability to support people seeking asylum. To redress these constraints, increased availability of social supports for people seeking asylum, continuing and additional funding for non-government organisations, and increased support for workers across sectors are recommended by this study. Service providers play a crucial role in enabling the effective engagement of people seeking asylum with the refugee determination process. These findings serve as a further warning from countries seeking to emulate the ‘Australian model’ of harm.

Keywords: Social welfare; Social work policy; Asylum seeker; Resettlement; Isolation; Exclusion; Health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s12134-024-01130-3 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:joimai:v:25:y:2024:i:3:d:10.1007_s12134-024-01130-3

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... tudies/journal/12134

DOI: 10.1007/s12134-024-01130-3

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of International Migration and Integration is currently edited by Lori Wilkinson

More articles in Journal of International Migration and Integration from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().