ACRT Media Release

20 June 2021

Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce shares vision of new season of community support for refugees and asylum seekers

In a meeting at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday 17th June, a delegation from the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce (ACRT) met with the office of the Hon Alex Hawke MP Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs to share the churches’ vision for a new partnership and a new season.

At the simplest level, the ACRT is calling on the Australian Government to:

1. Conduct fair and timely assessment of claims for refugee status (putting resources into fair and timely assessment of claims and not into the exorbitant, unnecessary and harmful costs of detention).
2. Support people seeking asylum to live in the community with adequate income and access to health care during the assessment of their claims (if they are unable to find work to support themselves.)
3. Introduce community sponsorship of refugees as a new mechanism in Australia to provide safety and protection for those seeking refuge. 

Ms. Elizabeth Stone, General Secretary at the National Council of Churches in Australia explained that “Our churches, and other faith communities, are willing and able to be more involved in supporting refugees in our communities, and there is an existing groundswell of activity in many parts of Australia supporting people on temporary visas living and contributing to our communities. But we need government to make the changes to end detention and to support and encourage this community movement by giving permanent protection. It is good for Australia in so many ways.” 

Read the full Media Release:   pdf 20210620 NCCA ACRT Media Release Meeting with Minister Hawke office (176 KB)

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