Asylum Seekers Centre

Our clients are community-based asylum seekers - namely men, women and children residing lawfully in the community (within NSW) while awaiting a final determination on their on-shore application for refugee protection or request to remain in Australia on humanitarian or compassionate grounds.

Some have been released from immigration detention. Many have been waiting for a final decision on their matter for many years.

Despite their lawful status within the community, the vast majority of our clients (91% in May 2006) hold bridging visas (predominantly a Bridging Visa E) which render them ineligible to undertake paid or voluntary employment, or to receive Centrelink or Medicare benefits. Many of our clients are also denied permission to undertake any formal study.

While some may be granted discretionary permission to work (subject to a range of criteria) and correspondingly Medicare, and/or become periodically eligible for government-funded welfare and health care assistance through the Asylum Seekers Assistance Scheme (ASAS), our clients are, in the main, destitute and utterly dependent upon charity and community supporters for their basic subsistence needs.

We have assisted over 3 000 community-based adult and child asylum seekers since our inception in 1993.  During 2006-07, we provided a broad array of direct services to over 250 new clients, from over 40 countries, and continued to provide assistance to several hundred existing clients requiring ongoing support.