resettlement to australia
What is resettlement?
Resettlement is where a refugee leaves the country of asylum and legally settles in another country on a stable, permanent basis. Resettlement is usually a solution for vulnerable refugees who face urgent or specific risks in their country of asylum and who cannot voluntarily return to their home country.
Globally, in 2022, around 114,300 individuals were resettled. In 2024, the UNHCR projects that around 2.4 million people will be in need of resettlement.
Resettlement to Australia
Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program comprises both onshore protection and offshore resettlement. Under the offshore Humanitarian Program, people who are found to be refugees or subject to substantial discrimination in another country may be granted a permanent visa to settle in Australia. The offshore resettlement program contains three categories: Refugee, Special Humanitarian Program or Community Support Program (CSP). The CSP is a private sponsorship initiative which sits within the broader Humanitarian Program.
Refugee pathway
People applying for refugee visas must be outside Australia and subject to persecution in their home country. The refugee visa has four different categories, which include people referred to Australia by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), people who are still living in their country and have been unable to leave, and for women at risk of harm.
The UNHCR refers individuals for resettlement under seven categories:
Legal and/ or Physical Protection Needs (including threat of refoulement, risk of arbitrary arrest and detention, and/ or threats to physical safety).
Women and Girls at Risk (including survivors, or those at risk, of gender-based violence).
Children and Adolescents at Risk (children who may or may not be unaccompanied or separated from family, and where resettlement is in their best interests).
Survivors of Violence and/ or Torture (for refugees who have experienced or witnesses violence and/ or torture and have ongoing physical or psychological needs).
Medical Needs (in particular, for those who cannot access life-saving treatment in their country of asylum).
Family reunification (when resettlement is the only means to restore family unity of refugees who have been separated).
Lack of Foreseeable Alternative Durable Solutions (where there are little prospects for local integration or voluntary return).
Australia’s resettlement program prioritises refugees who have been recognised, or referred, by the UNHCR. The government also gives priority to applicants who are proposed by an immediate family member in Australia who holds a refugee visa. This sub-category of refugee visas is called ‘split family’ applications.
Special Humanitarian Program (SHP)
People who are subject to substantial discrimination amounting to gross violation of human rights in their home country can apply for a permanent visa under the SHP. Applications under the SHP must also be supported by a proposer who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, an eligible New Zealand citizen, or an organisation based in Australia. The proposer is responsible for their settlement, including travel costs to Australia, accommodation on arrival, and other aspects of settlement.
How many people does Australia resettle?
Over the past decade, the annual refugee intake has been around 13,750. This number increased in 2016-2017 and in 2021-2022 to provide for people displaced by conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Labor government announced, in August 2023 that it would increase the refugee intake from 17,875 to 20,000 people for 2023-2024.
Each year the government determines the number of places to be allocated for the program and specifies the regions, nationalities and ethnic or religious groups that will be the priority. The number of applications lodged significantly outweighs the number of successful applicants arriving in Australia. In 2022, the UNHCR reported that Australia resettled 17,300 people, primarily from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Myanmar. During this period, 124,236 applications were lodged under the offshore humanitarian program.
Australia has consistently ranked as one of the top three resettlement countries in the world, alongside the United States of America and Canada. In 2022, Canada received 47,600 resettlement arrivals, mostly from Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea and Iraq. The United States of America resettled 29,000 refugees, with refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo representing the largest cohort of new arrivals, followed by Syrians and nationals of Myanmar.
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Last updated 30 October 2023