Australia has a complex and sometimes contested relationship with refugees and asylum seekers. As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, Australia accepts humanitarian migrants through its offshore resettlement programme. Yet offshore processing of asylum seekers who arrive by boat has generated significant controversy and left many people in prolonged, harmful uncertainty. Philanthropic grants supporting refugees and asylum seekers address both the immediate needs of newly arrived people and the systemic issues created by policy settings.
Offshore resettlement
Australia's Humanitarian Programme accepts approximately 13,750-20,000 people per year from offshore (with variation depending on government policy). These are typically people referred by UNHCR from refugee camps in countries of first asylum — people who have been waiting, sometimes for years, for a permanent resettlement opportunity.
Asylum seekers
People who arrive in Australia by boat without prior authorisation — including those seeking asylum — are subject to offshore processing on Nauru or Papua New Guinea. This policy has generated significant human rights concern; people subject to offshore processing have spent years in indefinite detention, with severe mental health consequences. Many have eventually come to Australia on temporary protection visas, living with ongoing uncertainty.
People on temporary protection visas (TPVs)
People found to be refugees who arrived by boat are given temporary protection rather than permanent residency, creating ongoing uncertainty and limiting access to services, work rights, and family reunion.
Diversity of origin
Australia's refugee population is diverse: major source countries include Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Syria, Iraq, and others depending on global displacement patterns. Cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity within the refugee population requires culturally tailored services.
Government funding
The Department of Home Affairs funds the Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP) for newly arrived refugees. HSP provides intensive early settlement support:
- Airport reception
- Initial accommodation
- Orientation to Australian life
- Connections to school, health, and employment services
- Case management
HSP is delivered by contracted settlement service providers — AMES, SSI, Multicultural Australia, and others.
Legal assistance
Legal aid commissions and community legal centres provide some refugee legal assistance; specialist refugee legal services provide immigration law help. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC), Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS), and others provide significant legal and advocacy services without government funding.
Community support
Many faith communities, migrant associations, and volunteer groups provide informal settlement support — language help, driving to appointments, food, friendship. This informal support is extensive but invisible in official statistics.
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC): Melbourne; comprehensive services for asylum seekers outside government support; food, health, legal, employment, community.
Refugee Advice and Casework Service (RACS): NSW; refugee legal services.
Australian Red Cross: Humanitarian support; case management; health.
Refugee Council of Australia: Peak advocacy organisation.
Amnesty International Australia: Advocacy for refugee rights.
Jesuit Refugee Service Australia: Accompaniment, service, and advocacy.
Welcome to Australia: Volunteer-based welcome and community integration.
Welcoming Cities: Local government network supporting refugee welcome.
Legal assistance for asylum seekers and refugees
Many asylum seekers lack legal representation in their claims — making decisions that will determine their futures without professional advice. Grants for refugee legal services, immigration law clinics, and asylum seeker case support directly affect people's lives and protection outcomes.
Mental health for traumatised refugees
Many refugees have experienced persecution, torture, violence, and prolonged detention — all of which cause severe trauma. Mental health services that are culturally appropriate, available in relevant languages, and trauma-informed are essential. STARTTS (Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors) and similar organisations need sustained funding.
Support for people outside government services
Asylum seekers on bridging visas, those who have exhausted protection claims, and people in prolonged limbo often have no access to government settlement services. The ASRC and similar organisations fill this gap — providing food, housing support, health, and legal advice to people the government does not support.
Employment pathways
Employment is central to refugee integration and wellbeing. Many refugees face significant barriers — credential recognition, language, cultural unfamiliarity, and employer discrimination. Mentoring programmes, employment-ready training, bridging programmes, and employer engagement all improve employment outcomes.
Community welcome and social connection
Social connection — friends, neighbours, community — is as important as services for long-term integration. Welcome programmes that create genuine social relationships between refugees and established Australians — through shared activities, hospitality, sport, and community — support belonging.
Children and youth
Refugee children often have interrupted schooling and may have experienced significant trauma. School support — tutoring, counselling, cultural liaison workers — helps children succeed educationally. Youth-specific programmes that address both trauma and social connection support healthy development.
Advocacy for protection
Australia's refugee policies — offshore processing, temporary protection, family reunion restrictions — create the harms that services address. Grants for advocacy organisations that campaign for humane and just refugee policy address the causes, not just the consequences, of harm.
Cultural community organisations
Ethnic and cultural community organisations serve refugees from their own communities — providing culturally appropriate support, maintaining language and culture, and creating belonging. These organisations are often small and poorly resourced but provide deep trust-based services.
Dignity and agency: Effective refugee philanthropy treats refugees as people with agency, expertise, and rights — not passive recipients of charity. Programmes that involve refugee leadership and voice in design and delivery are more effective and more just.
Address the spectrum from new arrivals to long-term residents: Refugee needs change over time — from intensive early settlement support through employment and social integration to long-term community building. Funders should consider the full spectrum, not only the most acute early arrival needs.
Systemic change alongside services: Services mitigate harm; advocacy and policy change prevent it. Funders who support both service delivery and refugee rights advocacy have greater long-term impact.
Tahua's grants management platform supports refugee and humanitarian funders in Australia — with the grant tracking, outcome measurement, and relationship management tools that help funders invest effectively in welcome, integration, and protection.