skip to main page content.
Home | Contact us | For more news and information on refugee issues, visit www.refugeecouncil.org.au
Refugee Council
A Just Australia
Australian Refugee Foundation

Latest News

2012-13 Submission on the Refugee and Humanitarian Program

RCOA's annual submission on Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program is now available for download here.

2012-14 Refugee Week theme: 'Restoring Hope'

RCOA has chosen 'Restoring Hope' as the Refugee Week theme for 2012 to 2014. For further details, visit the Refugee Week website.

Plight of refugees with adverse ASIO findings raised with Canberra

RCOA has written to Attorney-General Nicola Roxon on the predicament of recognised refugees who remain in immigration detention because of adverse ASIO findings. Read the letter here.

Nauru is not an option

RCOA acted strongly to reject any return to offshore processing in Nauru following revelations the Federal Government was willing to negotiate with the Opposition on asylum seeker policy. Read our media release.

Refugee and asylum seeker policy on a positive pathway

RCOA has welcomed the announcement by the Federal Government that it had begun to wind back its policy of indefinite mandatory detention for asylum seekers who enter Australia by boat. Read our media release.

 

Annual Intake Submission

RCOA's annual intake submission brings together commuity views and extensive research on issues to consider in planning the coming year's refugee program.

 

Register your event

The Refugee Council of Australia is producing a national web-based calendar of events diary of Refugee Week events, distributed by email to our media and community contacts around Australia. If you would like to list your event on the calendar, please e-mail the event details to info@refugeecouncil.org.au or register your event using this form:

The calendar will be uploaded in the coming weeks.

The '200 Events' campaign

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the UN Refugee Convention, the 50th anniversary of the UN Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, the 30th birthday of the Refugee Council and 25th year in which Refugee Week has been celebrated in Australia. In honour of these important anniversaries, RCOA is hoping to make the 2011 Refugee Week celebration our biggest and best ever!

Refugee Week has become an increasingly successful event over the years. In 2007, more than 130 local events were held around Australia as part of Refugee Week celebrations. This increased to over 140 events in 2008 and more than 160 in 2009. Last year’s celebration was our most successful to date, with 190 events being held across Australia. In 2011, we are hoping to break the 200!

We encourage anyone holding a Refugee Week event to register it with RCOA. Everyone who registers their event will receive a numbered certificate to acknowledge their contribution to the campaign (download a sample certificate here) and will have their event listed on our online events calendar. If you are holding a private event (ie. one which isn’t open to the public) you can still register their event and receive a certificate – simply let us know that it’s a private event and we won’t list it on the calendar.