Australian law and policy reform
Exploring contemporary challenges in Australia’s refugee law and policy, and identifying priority areas of reform.
The challenge
In recent years, there has been extraordinary innovation in Australia’s policy, legislation and executive decision-making pertaining to people seeking asylum. This has raised important questions about the domestic law boundaries within which Australia’s refugee policy takes shape. It has been underlined by significant litigation testing these boundaries, and it has been marked by a sharpening of the public conversation about refugees and people seeking asylum.
Our impact
Policymakers have told us – and shown – that our Policy Brief Series, opens in a new window, which brings top scholarly expertise to bear on key contemporary displacement challenges, can shape outcomes and change lives. This work has led to real improvements for people seeking protection in Australia and others displaced around the world. Our 2022 Policy Brief on temporary protection visas, opens in a new window paved the way to permanent, legal pathways for refugees otherwise stuck in limbo. A legal roadmap, it was produced with and garnered widespread support from civil society and the people whose safety was at stake. Ultimately it shaped the solution adopted by the Australian government for nearly 20,000 people.
This legal and policy work followed the Centre’s public-facing, award-winning storytelling project, Temporary, opens in a new window, which shed light on the policies that kept people onshore but in limbo, through their own voices, including in a narrative podcast series co-produced with The Guardian.
Our work
The Kaldor Centre’s ability to provide non-partisan, expert insights – grounded in our research and scholarly expertise – enables us to make a distinctive, highly sought-after contribution to public policy debates. Parliamentarians on all sides of Australian politics rely on the Kaldor Centre as a source of independent, authoritative advice. Our work is policy-relevant by design.
Week in and week out, our team provides briefings, analysis and media commentary, and plays an active role in contributing to parliamentary committee inquiries through submissions and in-person evidence. Our Data Lab, launched in 2022, is transforming the analysis of judicial and administrative decision-making, and provides a valuable tool that legal advocates can tap into for insights that could prove the difference for their clients seeking protection. Our Strategic Litigation Network and Legal Centres Teleconference connect practice and scholarship to ensure that advocates can access practical, evidence-based solutions.
