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.

Abstract: Border anxieties pervade discussions of refugees, asylum seekers and the defence of white privilege. Many scholars have explored the significance of borderlands/borderscapes in shaping and defending the white western self. The defence of a ‘vulnerable’ white subject includes the demonisation of the asylum seeker other and a deep fear of the erosion of ‘patriarchal...

Much uncertainty obscures the future of offshore processing in Australia, following the recent High Court ruling on the unlawfulness of the Malaysia Solution in Plaintiff M70/2011 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, and the tumultuous political response which has ensued.

Giving young people the opportunity to share their views and experiences of detention and the youth justice system, this survey considers matters that affect their safety and wellbeing.

This report comprehensively critiques Australia’s refugee and asylum policies and finds they are inhumane, ineffective and expensive. It argues that Australia needs a circuit-breaker in our treatment of people seeking asylum from war and persecution. On the 10th anniversary of the Tampa, Australia’s asylum and refugee policies are still sadly characterised by human tragedy, political...