SRSS: The gutted lifeline

In Australia today, people seeking asylum are locked out of the mainstream systems most of us rely on in times of crisis. They cannot access Centrelink, public housing, or the NDIS. This is on top of fluctuating access to Medicare and restrictions on their right to work. 

For those in crisis, one program – Status Resolution Support Services (SRSS) – was meant to be their only safety net. 

But that lifeline has been quietly, steadily disappearing.

What is the SRSS program?

The SRSS program provides basic financial support and casework support to people seeking asylum while they await a decision on their refugee status. It’s designed for those who are unable to work due to poor physical or mental health, trauma, or extreme vulnerability.

Through SRSS, people seeking asylum can receive roughly $49 a day. This is 89 per cent of the JobSeeker payment available to other Australians.

It’s a modest amount. But for many, it is the only way to afford food, transport, or medicine. It’s the difference between dignity and destitution.

A lifeline that’s been gutted

Since 2018, the SRSS program has been dramatically reduced. Funding has cut by 93 per cent, from $300 million spend in 2015–16 to just $20.2 million in 2024–25. 

Despite needs and costs rising, the number of people receiving support has plunged from roughly 19,000 recipients in 2017 to only around 2,000 people at the end of 2024.

Even for those who should qualify, the process of applying for SRSS is notoriously complex.

Felicia Paul, Client Services Manager at the Asylum Seekers Centre, explains that the level of documentation required is higher than for any other government benefit. Those documentation requirements also incur significant costs.

“People are put through the hoops.”

“It is a lengthy, very difficult, dehumanising process. There is medical evidence required — evidence of cancer, evidence of end of life. There is a cost attached – how can people pay for a psychiatrist report? It is impossible at times to meet the eligibility criteria”

The human cost

At the Asylum Seekers Centre, the demand for help is rising fast. Referrals for support are up 34 per cent compared to last year.

“We see this on the frontlines every day — people skipping meals, sleeping rough, unable to access basic healthcare. The impact is devastating,” says Felicia.

Ahmad*, was waiting more than five years for his refugee status decision. He was denied SRSS support despite being declared unfit to work by doctors. His case was rejected simply because he was at the Judicial Review stage. Without income, Ahmad has exhausted community assistance and now faces imminent homelessness.

Ayaan*, a single mother caring for two young children, was sleeping in her car when she came to the Asylum Seekers Centre. Her health has declined sharply, and while our team provided emergency financial and medical support, she remains ineligible for SRSS due to the complexities of her visa status.

Both Ahmad and Ayaan are doing everything the system asks of them, yet they’re being left behind by that very system.

“It’s not just hardship — it’s the slow breaking of people’s spirits,” adds Felicia.

Restoring fairness and compassion

The gutting of SRSS has left thousands of people in crisis without a lifeline. It has replaced compassion with bureaucracy and fairness with exclusion.

SRSS must be restored as a basic commitment to dignity, compassion, and fairness. 

Because everyone deserves a lifeline, no matter where you were born. 

Watch more on Australia’s broken safety net for people seeking asylum: