Mehreen Faruqi (NSW, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Earlier this year the Forcibly Displaced People Network, or FDPN, released its report titled Inhabiting two worlds at once on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people's settlement in Australia. The FDPN's research focuses on LGBTQIA+ forcibly displaced people, which means refugees, people seeking asylum and migrants from global south countries who are not able to live safely in their home country due to their LGBTQIA+ status and the subsequent discrimination, persecution and violence they face. In 2021 FDPN ran the first Australia-wide survey to capture comprehensive data about LGBTQIA+ forcibly displaced people in Australia, their experiences and where they seek assistance for health, housing and other settlement services.

The survey results should alarm and concern us. It showed very high levels of discrimination in all aspects of life, including services, education, employment, housing and health care. Over 50 per cent of the participants said ongoing discrimination affected their physical and mental health. Shockingly, 60 per cent of people who undertook the survey experienced at least one form of violence in Australia. Participants reported feeling discrimination based upon their gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity and migration status, including a combination of these at once, when accessing support services. People specifically reported being subjected to racism, homophobia and transphobia. It is clear that the same systemic discrimination that has played out so viciously for First Nations people for more than 200 years has also resulted in the sheer cruelty and neglect shown to people who have come to our shores seeking safety.

It is no secret that discrimination underlies much of our immigration policy, but these attitudes also shape our welfare system and the determination of who gets access to support. Like so many people seeking asylum, many LGBTQIA+ people have had some pretty terrible experiences of persecution and discrimination where they come from, but they are not eligible for support services in Australia because of their visa status. Barring people on certain visas from access to necessary support services is a specifically cruel choice. People from forcibly displaced backgrounds are no less worthy of accessing support than any Australian citizen. We can't change history, but we sure can make things right now and for the future.

The Department of Home Affairs does not collect specific data on whether someone is an LGBTQIA+ refugee or any detail about their experiences. The invisibility of these people during settlement means that they are overlooked in the policy-making process. We do not know their specific needs, which in turn remain unmet and lead to unsafe outcomes for these people. We need more comprehensive ongoing data on the experiences of forcibly displaced people in Australia to inform holistic, inclusive access to services. The government must direct funding towards support services that are LGBTQIA+ led, client centred and trauma informed for forcibly displaced people. Services must be available to all, regardless of citizenship or visa status.

This country's treatment of people seeking asylum and refugees leaves thousands in cruel situations, in painful limbo and in uncertainty, yet on World Refugee Day yesterday the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs said that the government will 'continue to be tough when it comes to securing our borders' and that it 'is committed to Operation Sovereign Borders'. A few seconds later he said that the government is also determined to change the tone of this debate in parliament and in the community to a debate that is anchored in compassion and generosity. Well, I have to say it is utter hypocrisy to commit in the same breath to continuing on with the cruellest policy against people who seek asylum and then ask for debate about them to be done with compassion. Labor knows that talk is cheap. We need action. Labor must end offshore detention. It is appalling that people seeking asylum are still being used as political pawns to fight culture wars in Australia. No amount of sugar-coating language can hide that fact. There have been decades of a shameful bipartisan race to the bottom when it comes to cruelty to people seeking asylum and refugees, and both the Labor Party and the coalition have been implicated in that. And this is causing unimaginable harm to thousands of people, including women and children. Our immigration and welfare policies should be based on compassion and respect, not xenophobia. If Labor truly want to change the tone of this debate then the work begins in their own backyard.