By Meg Pickup
It is so easy to become overwhelmed by the cruelty asylum seekers and refugees often experience at the hands of the Australian Government and the increasing racist behaviour from some citizens who want to put Australians first – whatever that means – and not know what to do.
So, in this article I thought I’d focus on the good work various groups do to support vulnerable asylum seekers and refugees.
However, this does not mean that we don’t hold the Government to account when they fall short. Most recently in the second week of March, at the same time Tony Burke, the Minister for Home Affairs, offered asylum to members of the Iranian women’s football team, the Federal Parliament gave the Minister new powers to block people with temporary visas fleeing from Iran and Lebanon entering Australia.
This legislation sidelines refugees and people seeking asylum and Australians with family in the area, creating uncertainty and fear for asylum seekers and refugees.
Children in detention
Sometimes organisations, such as National Justice Project (NJP), need to take the Australian Government to court to achieve better outcomes for refugees held in offshore detention. This is particularly so for children, who should never be denied the care they need to survive.
Yet for refugee families detained offshore on Nauru, this has been their reality. In one example, after three years in detention on Nauru, a father was sent to Australia for urgent medical care, leaving his wife and daughter Aisha (not her real name) behind.
Aisha, who because she was separated from her father, became socially withdrawn, and had suicidal thoughts, requiring intensive therapy while in detention. The Government kept Aisha detained on Nauru where medical facilities were appalling despite a specialist urgently recommended transferring her and her mother to Australia for mental health care.
NJP took the Government to court and Aisha was finally medically evacuated to Australia. Today, with NJP support, she is receiving the care she needs. NJP is also seeking justice for the harm she suffered while in the government’s care.
Night of unity at Iftar
Islamophobia has become normalised in Australia following the appalling shootings at Bondi on December 14, 2025, and Pauline Hanson’s no ‘good’ Muslims comments in mid-February 2026.
As reported in AMUST Australasian Muslim Times, Amity College Illawarra, in partnership with the University of Wollongong, continues to promote the importance of observances associated with Islam.
The school successfully hosted its Annual Senior Iftar Dinner in early March 2026. The dinner brought together students, staff, community leaders, and partners for a meaningful evening of connection, reflection, and celebration during the sacred month of Ramadan.
The College is described as a welcoming, non-denominational independent school that celebrates diversity and inspires academic excellence through a strong curriculum, extracurricular opportunities, and pastoral care, nurturing compassionate students who contribute to their communities.
It seems that this should be the description of all schools in Australia.
The LGBTQI+ Community
While many people flee their homelands because they fear for their lives. LGBTQI+ people flee because they are at particular risk of being persecuted. Some countries have made progress in decriminalisation and LGBTQ+ rights. However, other countries have introduced harsher penalties.
This continues to be an ongoing struggle for equity and human rights
The enormity of the problem becomes clear when, as of February 2025, 65 countries criminalise consensual same-sex sexual activity. Punishment ranges from certain death, to varying years of imprisonment (life to one-year), to corporal punishment, and to fines for homosexual convictions. Three of the countries with harsh legislation have undisclosed penalties.
Despite the risks LGBTQI+ people face, many have fallen through the cracks of the international refugee system. While Australian policies allow LGBTQI+ cases to be prioritised, there is a gap between policy and reality with a concerning number failing to receive support.
For example, a queer person cannot be registered as a refugee if their country criminalises being LGBTQI+ – which effectively blocks their access to safe pathways. However, in an Australian first, LGBTQI+ refugees in Asia and the Pacific who face serious harm simply for who they are, will be able to access priority processing in Australia’s humanitarian program.
An important initiative is the Bridge to Safety, which provides support for dedicated priority processing in the humanitarian program LGBTQI+ refugees in Asia and the Pacific. In recognition of this initiative the Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS) marched for the first time in the 2026 Mardi Gras Parade with the Asylum Seekers Centre, STARTTS Walk on Walk Strong and the Forcibly Displaced People Network. This was supported by the Kaldor Centre and Colours of Our Community.
In Melbourne, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre staff, volunteers and friends marched in support of LGBTQI+ refugees in the annual Midsumma Pride March.
The Right to Work and Study
According to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre many people who have sought safety in Australia are denied the chance to work or study for years while they wait for a decision on their visa application. This leaves them in limbo, unable to build a new life, at no fault of their own. The value of having a permanent visa is summed up by one refugee who commented that it “has given me an incredible sense of peace and stability, and I truly feel that I am now officially part of this amazing society.”
At a time when the cost of living is rising and families across Australia are feeling the pressure, being denied the right to work is demoralising. It means living in uncertainty, without the independence and stability that work makes possible.
This has been made for asylum seekers because of steep cuts to government’s ’safety net’ is contributing to this uncertainty for asylum seekers. As one person reported in The Saturday Paper (October 11-17, 2025) “I can’t sleep because I’m so scared of becoming homeless and not being able to feed my kids. I feel like a failure and a bad example for them . . . I feel like a beggar asking for food and money all the time. I feel ashamed, but I don’t have any choice.”
Everyone deserves the right to work. It enables them to support themselves and their families and contribute to the communities they live in. Legislation is not required to change this. All that is required is political will. Thousands of people speaking up show that fair work rights is a shared value. Our collective voice can give the Minister the confidence to move forward and make this simple change.
It seems incredulous that politicians fail to acknowledge the valuable skills and experience, especially in sectors where workers are urgently needed, that people seeking asylum bring to Australia.
Abdul, who arrived in Australia in 2007, is one example of how work enables people to rebuild their lives with dignity. He now owns a supermarket in regional Victoria. It supports numerous Australian suppliers and provides food and employment opportunities for people living in his community.
What can we do locally? We can share stories of the successful implementation of the Community Refugee Integration Settlement Program (CRISP) and the more recent Talent Beyond Boundaries program with family and friends and encourage them to join or support like-minded refugee support groups.
We can highlight these successes in letters to the editor and write to politicians, who I’m sure are sick of being told how inhumane Australia’s policy on refugees is, about the contributions newly arrive refugees have made.
We can organise or attend an Iftar dinner as part of Ramadan and attend an Eid al-Fitr gathering celebrating the end of Ramadan. We can make refugees feel welcome and support their employment.
How can we forget the community groundswell that influenced the newly elected Labor Government in 2022 to let Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers Nades and Priya and their daughters Kopika and Tharnicaa to remain in Australia, and the family’s contributions to the Biloela community both before and after they were given permanent visas.
