Morag Donaldson explains the welfare jurisdiction of the Family Court by highlighting its historic roots and noting some of the cases in which it has been applied.

Identifiable Commonwealth expenditure in the area of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs began with the establishment of the Office of Aboriginal Affairs soon after the landmark referendum in 1967. Over the past decade, John Gardiner-Garden finds, per-capita expenditure on Indingenous Australians (once adjusted to reflect their under-utlisation iof other programs) is not significantly higher...

Australian governments of both political persuasions have sought to reduce challenges in the courts to decisions under the Migration Act 1958. Two techniques to achieve this are considered by Jennifer Nicholson in this Research Note: the inclusion in the Migration Act of a privative clause and the codification of the requirements of procedural fairness.

Like any other contract or agreement, free trade agreements can be a source for disputes. In this Research Note Thomas John outlines the resolution process spelt out in the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement.

This resource guide provides links to statistics and information about the world's refugees, asylum seekers and others 'of concern'. It focuses on key agencies and materials that track recent developments and explore current issues. It aims to enable comparisons to be made between Australian and international refugee and asylum seeker responses and policies.