The Australian Human Rights Commission visited the immigration detention facilities at Villawood from 21 to 25 February 2011. This report contains a summary of the key observations and concerns arising from the Commission’s visit. It focuses on conditions as they were at that time.

Taking bearings from critical currents of thought in south Asia and black Africa and beyond, this paper discusses some of the differences in how postcolonialism is read from place to place in the light of local politics and culture.

The High Court recently handed down a judgment that may have significant implications for offshore processing of asylum seekers, a key policy of both Labor and the Coalition.

This background note provides a snap-shot of significant developments in Australian refugee law and policy under Labor’s first term in office. It begins by providing a chronology of key events from November 2007, when the ALP won the 2007 federal election to July 2010, when Parliament was prorogued for the 2010 federal election. Part I...

As more and more refugees arrive in Australian waters by boat, Rear Vision takes a look at the history of Australia's policies on asylum seekers, from the first boatload of Vietnamese back in 1976 through to today. First broadcast 7/4/2010 Guests Mary CrockProfessor of Public Law in the Department of law at the University of...