POLICY & REFORM
campusreview.com.au
A path full of obstacles
Asylum seekers and refugees
face a barrage of pitfalls if
they try to pursue higher
education in Australia.
Asher Hirsch interviewed by James Wells
R
efugees on temporary visas and about 29,000 asylum
seekers may miss out on higher education because they are
ineligible for government aid.
The Barriers to Education for People Seeking Asylum and
Refugees on Temporary Visas study, released late last year by the
Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA), found that this lack of support
– combined with a lack of work rights for temporary refugees and
asylum seekers – puts obstacles in the way of further education.
Comparatively, refugees on Permanent Protection Visas have
full work rights and access to federal support for education. They
account for 0.3 per cent of university student debt.
Outside of federal jurisdiction, financial support for refugees and
asylum seekers in schools is sporadic, varying from state to state,
school to school.
10
RCOA policy officer Asher Hirsch sat down with Campus Review
to discuss such barriers to education and the actions that might
help provide greater opportunity.
CR: What are the legislative barriers preventing refugees and those
awaiting confirmation of their status from accessing education?
AH: Asylum seekers are people who are waiting for their refugee
claims to be assessed. They are denied access to education
because they’re not able to obtain the Commonwealth-supported
places or participate in higher education loan schemes, such as
FEE-HELP and HECS-HELP.
Some asylum seekers have lived in the community in Australia for
three to four years without work rights, and for the last couple of
years on limited income support lower than the poverty line. Being
able to afford international student rates for higher education is out
of reach for almost every one of them.
So while there is no specific legislative [impediment], there are
practical barriers because they can’t get any funding support to
attend university.
This continues once someone is found to be a refugee. The
new legislation brought in at the end of last year grants people
Temporary Protection Visas, rather than Permanent Protection
Visas, which other refugees have. Once someone is found to
be a refugee, they have only a three-year visa to live in Australia,
after which they have to reapply for protection. These three-year