Annual Report 2014-15

Fast Track Process and
RACS Response to it
Fast Track Process Legal Assistance Project
The aim of the current government is to “process” the
24000-30000 people who came by boat seeking safety
after August 2012 within 3 years.
The new refugee assessment process that has been
introduced is called the Fast Track process and
removes the right of the applicant to a review of their
Departmental decision. If the person is not excluded
from the right to review, however, the review of the
decision will only be on the papers and new information
will not be able to be put forward.
The opportunity to have a hearing at the Administrative
Appeals Tribunal, with an independent decision maker
making a fresh assessment of a person’s claims, and
accepting new information that supports those claims,
has gone for people who used a boat as a means of
reaching Australia’s waters to seek protection.
The new law, introduced in December 2014, established
that in exercising the power to remove a non-citizen from
Australia, it is irrelevant whether Australian has nonrefoulement
obligations in relation to that person. This
new law explicitly authorises violations of Australia’s
international obligations under the Refugee Convention,
Convention against Torture (CAT) and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), as it
requires removal even where Australia’s non-refoulement
obligations have not been considered.
In an environment, where few asylum seekers will be
able to access legal advice due to the massive funding
cuts organisations, like RACS, have experienced, these
changes are terrifying for people facing the prospect of
claiming protection under this new Fast Track process.
RACS Fast Track Process Legal Assistance Project
A fundamental part of RACS’ rewriting the book on
delivering legal aid has been the development of our Fast
Track Process Legal Assistance project which aims to
provide free immigration and legal assistance and advice
to asylum seekers who face the prospect of applying for
protection without access to such advice elsewhere.
In order to meet the unprecedented demand for legal
services in a political climate hostile to asylum seekers,
RACS has developed close ties with community groups,
funders, pro bono law firms and committed individuals
who support human rights for people seeking safety no
matter how they arrived on our shores.
This project would not have been possible without the
collaboration and support of organisations like Red
Cross, Settlement Services International, the Jesuit
Refugee Service, Balmain for Refugees, pro bono
assistance from Norton Rose Fulbright, Allens Linklaters,
King & Wood Mallesons, Baker & McKenzie and Wotton
+ Kearney, as well as funding support from Dooleys
Lidcombe Catholic Club, Auburn Council, the Scully Fund
and Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation.
There are at least 24,000 (9000 in NSW) unrepresented
people seeking asylum who will not receive free legal
assistance with their claims for protection. All they have
had to assist them are information kits prepared by the
Department of Immigration and Border Protection. This
is far from adequate.
As UNHCR has noted, ‘[a]sylum seekers are often unable
to articulate the elements relevant to an asylum claim
without the assistance of a qualified counselor because
they are not familiar with the precise grounds for the
recognition of refugee status and the legal system of a
foreign country’.
20 | Annual Report