Funding cuts to Refugee Council threatens a vital voice

Last week, the Refugee Council of Australia, Australia's peak body for refugee organisations, lost $140,000 in federal government funding, amounting to close to a quarter of the organisation's budget. According to the Minister for Immigration, the funding was removed despite the fact the money had been allocated in the Budget, because it was "not the Government's view that taxpayer funding should be there to support what is effectively an advocacy group".

The Refugee Council of Australia is a vital voice in refugee policy in Australia,by bringing together a broad network of refugee with disparate concerns, enabling the sharing of information, and by feeding the experience and insights of those 'on the ground' back to the Australian Government. At this critical time in Australian refugee policy, the Refugee Council of Australia is more important than ever. The Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law has personally benefited by our ongoing engagement with the Refugee Council in a range of matters, and express our deep appreciation for the commitment, enthusiasm and openness of those working at the Refugee Council. We encourage those who are wondering how they can help to consider donating to the Refugee Council of Australia.

These funding cuts are part of a wider pattern of the removal of government funding for peak bodies and other not-for-profit bodies working to further social justice. In recent months, we have seen the removal of government funding for legal assistance for refugees, other vital refugee organisations such the Refugee and Advice Casework Services (RACS)and the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre (RILC). With cuts to other organisations that are not funded by governments such as the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) are under increasing strain. We have also seen government funding withdrawn from organisations seeking to promote Indigenous interests (including our neighbours, the Indigenous Law Centre at UNSW), community legal services, and health education services. The removal of government funding has threatened and, in some cases, ended the life of many of these organisations. The effect of these cuts will be felt, first, by those that these are trying to help - usually, the most vulnerable in our society.

Ultimately, however,these cuts impoverish us all by removing those who represent the vulnerable from the political process. Asylum seekers, by definition, have no vote and therefore no voice in the political process. The reason organisations such as the Refugee Council of Australia should be funded by government is to enable those who are under-represented to have a voice, thereby informing the policy-making process and enriching public debate. Advocacy, as an aspect of freedom of expression, benefits us all.

To donate to the Refugee Council of Australia, click here.
To donate to RACS, click here.
To donate to RILC, click here.
To donate to ASRC, click here.