400511 Social Work and Social Policy: Immigration in Australia Report

This report examines the role of the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia in addressing immigration issues, particularly those arising since 2001. It details the evolution of immigration policies, including the migration and humanitarian programs, and the impact of these policies on both onshore and offshore asylum seekers. The report addresses the challenges posed by unauthorized boat arrivals and the internal policy disagreements between the Australian Coalition and Labour governments. It analyzes key policy changes, such as immigration detention and offshore processing, and discusses the ethical considerations and criticisms surrounding these policies, especially concerning the UNHCR standards. The report concludes by recommending a reconsideration of the offshore processing regime, the development of improved migration pathways, and regional cooperation frameworks to manage immigration more effectively, and also includes strategies for discouraging illegal arrivals.

Running head: SOCIAL POLICY
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Student’s Name
University Name
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
1. Title and Introduction.............................................................................................................3
2. Summary of problem to be addressed....................................................................................4
3. Background information/ outline of the relevant social policy or proposed policy change. .4
4. Discussion of change/ no change policy................................................................................5
5. Recommendations for change and Conclusion......................................................................6
Reference List............................................................................................................................7

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1. Title and Introduction
This report tends to assess the role of the Department for Immigration and Protection
of Border in Australia in dealing with and resolving the issue with immigration that Australia
have been facing very critically since 2001. Since the year 1945 during the time when federal
portfolio for immigration was formed. Since then, the Department for Immigration and
Protection of Border in Australia have officially acknowledged 7.5 million immigrants
(Watkins 2017). The immigrants include 800000 refugees along with various other
humanitarian entrants.
In order to give entry to the permanent immigrants there is two formal
acknowledgement program of the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in
Australia. The first is Migration program for the people with elevated skills level in certain
fields and again those who arrive with families. Another similar program is the Humanitarian
program arranged by the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia
(Altbach and Reisberg 2017). This program is for the refugees and the other immigrants who
are allowed under other ground of humanitarianism. As informed by Castles (2016), The
Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia works directly with the
UNO to give shelter to the offshore as well as the onshore entrants. The offshore entrants are
in fact referred to Australia under the UNHCR program. Such immigrants are settled in
Australia and are able to find means of basic livelihood and education owing to the initiatives
of the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia. This department
also conducts an international survey in order to identify the people who are facing human
right abuses staying in their native country and incidentally have some form of linkage with
the Australian mainland. Such people are also offered a refugee license under the offshore
scheme.

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In contrast, the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia also have
the onshore program under the immigration scheme. People who lodge in and then claim
asylum are given domestic protection under the Australian territory by the Department for
Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia.
2. Summary of problem to be addressed
In spite of having a highly controlled migration framework public concerns regarding
by-boat arrivals of the asylum seekers who enter the Australian main land in an unauthorised
way have increased highly. In the context of the unauthorised and latent boat arrivals in
Australia, have increased tremendously in Australia. The Department for Immigration and
Protection of Border in Australia relies absolutely on the Australian Coalition and Labour
government for adopting to certain measures (Castles 2016). However, internal policy
problems between the Coalition and the Labour government is preventing Australia from
deterring future illegal boat arrival. That is why the Department for Immigration and
Protection of Border in Australia is also not able to combat with the issues like border
security concerns as well as the issue of people smuggling.
3. Background information/ outline of the relevant social policy or proposed policy
change
The two major political parties in unison have stated that necessary policy
frameworks have been introduced for deterring the illegal and unauthorised boat arrivals in
the future. According to the ideas of Breunig, Deutscher and To (2017), one of the major
policy changes that the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia
had proposed and was accepted by the Supreme Court of Australia was the immigration
detention for the unauthorised arrivals. The labour Government during 1992 sanctioned this
policy. The labour government recently in the 2012 introduced the framework of offshore

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processing arrangement amidst the Pacific. Current one major policy change that is under
debate and future discretion is that whether the onshore refugee asylum seekers should be
allowed with temporary or totally permanent visa protection in the Australian territory.
However, after 2013 when the Coalition government was formed, the position of the
Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia began to change
completely. The major policy difference that have been introduced by the secretariat of the
Coalition Border Security Ministry is arrangement of the offshore regional processing at the
Nauru as well as the PNG. Presently, more than 1300 asylum seekers have been processed
offshore (Betts 2018). The Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia
in consultation have declared that none of these asylum seekers would be allowed to stay
back or join the workforce of the organised sector in Australia. As informed by Rivas and
Bull (2018), the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia have
declared in a press meet that in case if these asylum seekers are encouraged and allowed to
settle and work in Australia, this would in turn work as a pull factor to entice the other illegal
as well as unauthorised boat arrivals.
4. Discussion of change/ no change policy
According to the critics like Köngeter and Smith (2015), the coalition government
have taken a remarkable step in the form of the regional pacific processing policy and thereby
not allowing the entrants to enter the main land. However, in sharp contrast, critics like
Markus (2014), have asserted that this policy of the government have been against the
UNHCR ethical standards. They have highlighted that many of the long term detainees who
Have been staying the detainment centres since 2013 have been the victim of poor an at times
adverse mental health. Critics like Savic et al. (2016), have supported the latter view speaking
of the chances of physical harm of the children and specially women at the detention centre at

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Nauru. A case was also launched in the High Court of Australia regarding the PNG centre of
detention that have been claimed to be unconstitutional. Considering the overall scenario, the
Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in Australia is under significant
pressure of developing alternative solutions of resettlement for those families and individuals
at least who have been affected in the detention centres.
5. Recommendations for change and Conclusion
Analysing the current scenario of the illegal and unlawful immigration in Australia
and the currently role played by the Department for Immigration and Protection of Border in
firstly, it is worth mentioning that there is no short term and readymade solution for this
issue. So far as the long term measures are concerned, the Department for Immigration and
Protection of Border in Australia can be recommended to reconsider the opening of the
offshore processing regime. Again, if some recommendations are required to be provided
regarding the practice of non-deference, it is advisable that the Department for Immigration
and Protection of Border in Australia develop better pathways of migration, rather than the
policy of boat arrivals. The regional cooperation framework should be highlighted. This
framework would be responsible for the provision of protection more generally for all the
refugees under the region
Another feasible suggestion include discouraging the asylum, seekers from staying
away off the various activities like people smuggling. This can be achieved by providing
alternative pathways to legal migration to any country that accepts immigration like that in
Australia. Australia can also develop the effective strategies of processing in the region like
as Malaysia as well as Indonesia
The last and the most rightful strategy is that the offshore processing centres of the PNG as
well as Nauru should be provided with re-settlement of the people in Nauru as well as PNG.

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In fact turn backs can be created so that no further illegal arrivals are prevented.

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Reference List
Altbach, P.G. and Reisberg, L., 2017. Global: Another Week, Another Scandal: Immigration
Dilemmas and Political Confusion. In Understanding Higher Education Internationalization
(pp. 103-106). SensePublishers, Rotterdam.
Betts, K., 2018. Immigration and public opinion in Australia: how public concerns about high
migration are suppressed.
Breunig, R., Deutscher, N. and To, H.T., 2017. The Relationship between Immigration to
Australia and the Labour Market Outcomes of Australian‐Born Workers. Economic Record,
93(301), pp.255-276.
Castles, S., 2016. Rethinking Australian migration. Australian Geographer, 47(4), pp.391-
398.
Knoch, U., McNamara, T. and Elder, C., 2017. Submission to the Australian Government
Department of Immigration and Border Protection on the discussion paper ‘Strengthening the
test for the Australian Citizenship’. Google Scholar.
Köngeter, S. and Smith, W. eds., 2015. Transnational Agency and Migration: Actors,
Movements, and Social Support. Routledge.
Markus, A., 2014. Attitudes to immigration and cultural diversity in Australia. Journal of
Sociology, 50(1), pp.10-22.

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Rivas, L. and Bull, M., 2018. Gender and Risk: An Empirical Examination of the
Experiences of Women Held in Long-Term Immigration Detention in Australia. Refugee
Survey Quarterly.
Savic, M., Chur-Hansen, A., Mahmood, M.A. and Moore, V.M., 2016. ‘We don’t have to go
and see a special person to solve this problem’: Trauma, mental health beliefs and processes
for addressing ‘mental health issues’ among Sudanese refugees in Australia. International
Journal of Social Psychiatry, 62(1), pp.76-83.
Watkins, J., 2017. Australia’s irregular migration information campaigs: border
externalization, spatial imaginaries, and extraterritorial subjugation. Territory, Politics,
Governance, 5(3), pp.282-303.