090513 Federal Budget - RCOA comment

May 13, 2009 COMMON SENSE CHANGES BUILD FAIRER REFUGEE DETERMINATION PROCESS Changes announced in the 2009-10 Federal Budget will help to produce a fairer and more streamlined system of determining refugee status, the Refugee Council of Australia says. Measures announced by Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans, include: • the development of a national Community Status Resolution Service and Assisted Voluntary Return Service; • abolishing the arbitrary “45-day rule” approach to the granting of work rights and health care access to asylum seekers; and • introducing a Complementary Protection system for people to whom Australia has protection obligations under human rights treaties other than the Refugee Convention. Refugee Council CEO Paul Power said these changes built on a series of significant reforms which began in 2005. “The new Community Status Resolution Service and Assisted Voluntary Return Service are based on the innovative Community Care Pilot, introduced in 2006 by the then Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone,” Mr Power said. “The Community Care Pilot demonstrated that supporting vulnerable visa applicants to live in the community was a more constructive and cost-effective strategy than leaving them indefinitely in immigration detention. It also showed that many of those unable to remain in Australia could be encouraged to return home voluntarily, avoiding the trauma and expense associated with ...