Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I understand that today it is Persian New Year. But for many who celebrate this, including many who I represent in Scullin, it comes at a time of deep anxiety, not of celebration. Under this government's fast-track visa process, established through the Migration and Maritime Powers Legislation Amendment (Resolving the Asylum Legacy Caseload) Act 2014—legislation I opposed, along with my Labor colleagues—there are approximately 24,500 people across Australia who have sought asylum and who have had to wait for years until invited by the department to lodge their claims. Many of the people in this group are being told to lodge their claims for protection within very short timeframes, with very little access to legal support. If these claims are not lodged within 16 days, asylum seekers are being told that they will not only lose any payments they may receive but lose access to financial hardship payments and vital support services.

Given cuts to legal support, there are no funded services for many to help them navigate this complex and traumatic process. This poses many significant difficulties. A settlement worker at Whittlesea Community Connections in my electorate told me this is a difficult and complex question to discuss with many asylum seekers suffering from other traumas. After discussing the case and the prospects with one asylum seeker from Iran, she was told, 'I can't bear to talk about the prospect of returning to Iran if I'm not successful. I die just thinking about it.'

Of course, this does not just affect asylum seekers from Iran. I have heard about other asylum seekers who have had difficulty completing their forms because they have not had guidance. People who are suffering from PTSD can be very confused about what elements of their stories they have told to whom and for what purpose. I think of the example of the woman in Queensland who forgot to include that she had been raped in her initial application. These are profound failings with a process, and this is not good enough. There is no urgency for these claims to be lodged, although we of course support prompt processing. Many people have been reporting that they have been cut off from social support payments within days of receiving their letters from the department, making it even more difficult for them to access the support that they need to complete these vital applications.

In matters that so often are of life and death, matters affecting lives that have been in limbo for years, surely the key question here is to get the decisions right and not cause further trauma to people who have already suffered too much. There are of course big disagreements in this parliament when it comes to how we approach meeting our obligations to those who seek asylum in Australia. These debates will continue. I hope that views will change. But here we have a simpler question, which comes down to this: can we not treat human beings with decency and dignity, and give them a fair chance to exercise their rights?