When crises threaten lives, the Australian government often steps up – but not always in a predictable, efficient, equitable and effective way, if responses to Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza are anything to go by. For some people escaping these conflicts, travel to Australia has been relatively easy; for others, impossible. Some people who reach Australia have rights to work, study, healthcare and support, while others are barely surviving.
Over time, Australia has issued at least 25 different visa types to assist people in humanitarian emergencies. A new Kaldor Centre policy brief outlines them all and argues that it does not need to be this complicated.
Instead, ‘Ensuring Protection in Humanitarian Emergencies: A framework for Australia’ recommends that the Australian government should streamline its humanitarian crisis response with a new, dedicated emergency visa.
The policy brief is authored by Scientia Professor Jane McAdam AO and Dr Regina Jefferies of the Evacuations Research Hub at the Kaldor Centre.
It proposes the new emergency visa as part of a holistic, more equitable and agile response to crises. Encompassing both physical and legal protection, the broader emergency response framework proposed could be activated when sudden or large-scale crises arise around the world, and tailored to the specific context. The framework is designed with Australia in mind, but it could also be used as a model for other countries.
The policy brief sets out what an emergency visa should look like – including who should be eligible for the visa, what rights it would provide, and how long it should last. The policy brief’s broader recommendations detail what the humanitarian emergency framework needs in order to achieve a more predictable, equitable, streamlined and efficient outcome – for all concerned.