Family Reunification Project

A significant issue faced by the refugee community in Tasmania is the separation from family members who often remain in insecure and volatile situations overseas.

Previously, there were limited services to assist refugee, asylum seeker and migrant background Tasmanians to reunify with their family members. Thanks to the Law Foundation grants program the Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service (‘TRLS’) in partnership with Citizen Tasmania is currently running a dedicated family reunification project to provide ongoing free legal advice and legal education to refugees and migrants residing in Tasmania, with the aim of bringing Tasmanian families together. The project will run over 12 months and provide further legal support for the refugee community in Tasmania affected by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the war in the Ukraine and other conflicts around the world.

Disadvantage among Tasmanians from the asylum seeker, migrant, and refugee arrived communities is widespread, often arising from institutional, financial, cultural, societal, and language barriers. Disadvantage also arises from lived experience of trauma. TRLS clients often experience challenges in securing suitable, well paid and stable employment. Therefore, private legal services are financially inaccessible to many in this group.

TRLS is the only dedicated refugee, migrant, asylum seeker and humanitarian entrant legal service in Tasmania. TRLS addresses an access-to-justice gap that manifests from the unique circumstances of this cohort who would otherwise be without access to legal services.

The past 12 months has seen two of the largest scale humanitarian crises since World War Two, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the war in Ukraine.

In 2021, after the Taliban take-over of Afghanistan, TRLS was granted emergency funding by the Tasmanian Government to run the Afghan Project. The project ran from September 2021 to March 2021 and TRLS lawyers assisted Tasmanian families to lodge almost 100 Offshore Humanitarian visa applications for families affected by the crisis. The funding granted by the Law Foundation has allowed TRLS to continue this work for the broader refugee community in Tasmania.

To lodge a family reunification case the Tasmanian resident must have a close family member offshore (outside Australia) that they are hoping to bring to safety in Australia through the offshore humanitarian family reunification visa process. These two major world events have resulted in a 300% increase to TRLS’ caseload, and the service currently has over 150 open family reunification files in both the north and the south of the State.

A Family Reunion case will go through three main phases from pre-lodgement to outcome. The bulk of the legal work in a Family Reunion case is completed in the pre-lodgement phase where TRLS assist clients to lodge Offshore Humanitarian visa applications for family overseas. After the visa application is lodged, the Department of Home Affairs will complete a number of assessments to determine if the application will be sent to an Overseas Post. If the visa application is sent to an Australian Embassy overseas, the applicants may be required to complete an interview, further forms and various checks before an outcome is provided. TRLS will assist clients through this process which can take up to 2-4 years.

As well as providing a much-needed legal service for recent arrivals in Tasmania, the project aims to facilitate better-supported integration into Australian society by working to close the knowledge gap regarding legal information and legal aid. In given circumstances, there is a huge gap in knowledge for migrant and refugee persons as compared to other population groups. Having a refugee status can mean that there has been a hindrance to access to education, or even learning basic literacy.

Citizen Tasmania has set up and facilitated events in the community for TRLS Lawyers and Citizen Tasmania Staff to provide information about migration options and legal processes. Given the unique experience of many refugees fleeing prosecution and life-threatening situations, it is imperative to create an awareness of political and personal safety through education on human rights and legal systems in Australia.

Citizen Tasmania and TRLS have already delivered legal education sessions to TasTafe students in the past few months.

In addition to addressing a gap in current service provision, the Family Reunion project was developed to improve the outcomes of resettlement for refugees. Many refugees living in Australia have been separated from family members by war and conflict in their country of origin and have been unable to reunite. Consequently, those refugees are unable to ever fully resettle and rebuild their lives as their family members remain at risk overseas.

Clients report an overwhelming sense of guilt that comes with being the one family member living in a safe place such as Australia. They also comment that they cannot enjoy or even concentrate on their new life because they are too worried about the people they have left behind. This project will enable these families to have the legal support they need to be able to reunify in Tasmania.

The outcomes of this project will be free legal advice, casework and legal education on the family reunification visa process for the refugee and migrant community who reside in Tasmania, with the ultimate goal of reunifying family members affected by war and conflict. The outcomes of the legal education component of the project will be to ensure that there is a sufficient understanding of available support around pathways to family reunification. Ultimately this project aims to reduce gaps in accessing justice for the refugee and migrant community in Tasmania.

Daisy Kateros
Lawyer
Tasmanian Refugee Legal Service
daisy.kateros@trls.org.au