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Over the last decade the Commission has worked to promote and protect the rights of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia. The Commission aims to provide clear, factual information to highlight the human rights issues involved in the treatment of these groups of people. On this page: Who are asylum seekers and refugees? What are Australia’s human rights obligations in relation to asylum…

Reports on complaints of discrimination on the grounds of sexual preference, criminal record and trade union activity are available on our discrimination in employment and occupation page.

According to the United Nations Convention and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (also called the Refugee Convention), a refugee is someone who is outside their own country and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their:

Community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons Observations from visits conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission from December 2011 to May 2012 Back to Contents 1 Summary 2 Recommendations 3 Introduction 4 Australia’s mandatory detention and excision regime 4.1 The origins and impact of mandatory immigration detention and excision 4.2 Recent developments…

Community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons Observations from visits conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission from December 2011 to May 2012 Back to Contents 1 Summary 2 Recommendations 3 Introduction 4 Australia’s mandatory detention and excision regime 5 Community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons 6 Some barriers to use…

The purpose of this chapter is to explain the relevance of international human rights law to children in Australia's immigration detention centres and to provide a quick reference point on the fundamental human rights principles that have influenced the approach of this Inquiry. This chapter also explains the role of United Nations (UN) guidelines in the Inquiry's analysis of Australia's human…

back to immigration detention, asylum seekers and refugees The human rights of people who are in immigration detention are of particular concern to the Commission. Liberty is a fundamental human right, recognised in major human rights instruments to which Australia is a party, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child…

There are a host of benefits associated with community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons. Community arrangements are more closely aligned with international human rights law and standards than models of indefinite closed immigration detention. They also provide for far more humane treatment of people seeking protection.

Community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons Observations from visits conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission from December 2011 to May 2012 Back to Contents 1 Summary 2 Recommendations 3 Introduction 4 Australia’s mandatory detention and excision regime 5 Community arrangements for asylum seekers, refugees and stateless persons 6 Some barriers to use…

On 25 June 2012, the Australian Parliament passed legislation to establish Australia’s first National Children’s Commissioner. The Commissioner will be a member of the Australian Human Rights Commission.