Australian Migration and Refugee Laws and Policy

Australian Migration and Refugee Laws and Policy
Student’s name:
Tutor’s name:
University:
Date:

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Australian Migration Law and Refugees Law.................................................................................3
Law Regulating Student Visa..........................................................................................................5
Working Holiday Visa.....................................................................................................................7
Case Study.....................................................................................................................................10
Case: 1310376 [2015] RRTA 296 (6 June 2015)......................................................................10
Policy Review................................................................................................................................11
Suggestion......................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................15
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................16
Page | 2

Introduction
Australia is a developed country, which offers higher standards of education as well as high-
class, high paid jobs. For these reasons, students from all over the world, as well as people
seeking jobs, are attracted to the prospects of the country. To accommodate them without
compromising the security of the country, Australia had introduced many laws1. These laws are
made keeping in mind the well-being of the citizens of foreign countries. Also, these laws are
upgraded keeping in mind the changing needs of the society. By properly applying them,
Australia can maintain national integrity and present itself as a secular country.
Australian Migration Law and Refugees Law
In the year 1951, the government of Australia has signed an agreement with the United Nations
to look after the status of refugees, which signifies that Australian government has the right to
develop laws and policies to manage refugees efficiently2. Moreover, it can be identified that,
after World War II, to meet the humanitarian need, the government of Australia has accepted
more than 760000 people. In late 1940s European people were seeking humanitarian assistance
and arrived in Australia. At that time, the Australian government did not have adequate laws,
regulations, and policies, related to the status of refugee people.
1 Emma, Larking,. Refugees and the myth of human rights: life outside the pale of the law. Routledge, 2016.
2 Khanh, Hoang, and Reich, Sudrishti. "Managing crime through migration law in Australia and the United States: a comparative
analysis." Comparative migration studies 5, no. 1 (2017): 12.
Page | 3

Moreover, the second group of refugee was coming from the Indo-China region. The
government of Australia is responsible for protecting the basic human rights of refugees when
the asylum seekers and refugees are in Australia. In 1851, gold was discovered in Australia,
which attracted many immigrants to New South Wales and settles there. Among all the settlers,
there were over 40000 men who came from China.
According to Article 1A (2), a refugee is a person, who is afraid because of the persecution of
race, religion, nationality, political opinion and others. For this reason, they are not willing to
stay in their nation3. Moreover, the Australian Migration Act is incorporated into the Australian
domestic Law, which has created an effect on the Australian’s obligation of non-refoulement. In
section 36 (2), Migration law provides a visa for the peoples, who are not the citizen of Australia.
Simultaneously, the Migration Act, 1958 provides the rules and policies for managing all forms
of migration and visa applications in Australia. It act also includes the humanitarian assistance 4.
If the intensity of the family violence has adversely affected the physical and psychological
health of the people, then it should be included in the refugee convention5. As earlier refugees
used to come to Australia by boat, so to reduce it, strict laws are made, which was named as
“stop the boats” in easy words.
There had been instances, where many people from the UK and the USA can be seen overstaying
their visa. Which means, they spend more time than which is allowed legally in Australia.
3 Goodwin-Gill, S., Guy and McAdam Jane. The refugee in international law. Oxford University Press, 2007, p. 15.
4 Grove, J., Natalie and B. Zwi, Anthony. "Our health and theirs: forced migration, othering, and public health." Social science & medicine 62,
no. 8 (2006): 1931-1942.
5 Rob T., Guerette, Migration, culture conflict, crime and terrorism. Routledge, 2016.
Page | 4