Annual Report 2014-15

Impact of Legal Changes on
Asylum Seekers
Bar on applying for protection August 12 2013-May 2015
On August 13, 2012, the Rudd government appointed
Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers announced that there
would be “no advantage” given to people who had come
by boat seeking asylum.
“No advantage” as a term has always been somewhat
ambiguous, but the 24000 or so people who arrived after
that date have faced the risk of being sent to Nauru or
Manus, had a bar preventing them from applying for
protection in Australia and were not allowed to work.
These measures resulted in thousands of people
languishing in a legal limbo, stagnating, their lives on
hold with little hope of settling in Australia or seeing their
families again.
Visa product = Temporary Protection Visa or Safe Haven
Enterprise Visa. What is the difference?
The Coalition government, as we can see from the
timeline on the previous page, finally got the visa product
they were after – the Temporary Protection Visa (TPV).
Cross bench lobbying resulted in an additional temporary
protection visa product, the Safe Haven Enterprise Visa
(SHEV), being on offer. However, people who arrived by
boat seeking safety and hope for a future away from
harm will never be granted permanent protection under
these new changes.
The TPV lasts 3 years, allows people to work and
study, but they cannot sponsor their family, apply for
citizenship or travel outside the country unless they have
permission from the Minister for Immigration.
The SHEV, in addition to having similar criteria as
the TPV, lasts 5 years, requires people to indicate an
intention to work or study in a regional area, offers a
pathway to visa options, which may lead to permanent
residence visas (a Skilled, Student, or Family visa) if
regional work/study pathway requirements are met.
These requirements are working or studying in a
designated regional area for a total of 3.5 years out of
the 5 year visa.
12 | Annual Report