Asylum seekers: an update

The issue of asylum seekers has proven a fraught policy area for successive governments in Australia. While asylum seeker policy falls under the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth, recent changes to Federal policy in relation to asylum seekers who arrive by boat could potentially have implications for NSW, with increasing numbers of asylum seekers being accommodated in the community, rather than in secure immigration detention centres. The NSW Government has responded with concern about the implications of recent policy changes for State infrastructure and resources. This paper outlines developments in national policies relating to asylum seekers between 2008 and 2011, thereby updating a paper published by the NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service in 2008.