Accidental underclass
Michael Gordon and Bianca Hall It was the foundation stone of Julia Gillard's plan to stop, or at least substantially slow, the flow of boats.
Arrivals tipped to reach 25,000
Bianca Hall The government vastly underestimated the number of asylum seekers expected to arrive in Australia this financial year, with up to 25,000 now expected - almost five times more than initial forecasts.
Detainee self-harm falls but figures questioned
Bianca Hall Self-harm rates among asylum seekers in Australian detention centres has dramatically fallen since September 2011.
Schools pay high price for Gonski snub
Bianca Hall Schools in NSW would lose, on average, $1.7 million in funding over six years if other states and territories do not sign up for the Gonski reforms, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Sunday.
Asylum boat reaches NT mainland
Bianca Hall A small group of asylum seekers decamped from their boat in a virtually uninhabited peninsula in the Northern Territory, and were only discovered a day later at a nearby airstrip.
PM pays respects to WWII troops, wraps up PNG visit
Bianca Hall In the searing heat and sweltering humidity of the PNG wet season, Julia Gillard paid her respects to civilian soldiers who lost their lives during World War II.
Amnesty reveals abuses in Sri Lanka
Bianca Hall Sri Lanka is intensifying its crackdown on critics and increasing human rights abuses, an investigation by Amnesty International has found.
'Ashamed to be Australian': doctor slams Manus Island centre
Bianca Hall An Australian doctor who worked at the Manus Island detention centre has said the experience made him "ashamed to be an Australian".
No compensation for Maralinga radiation victims
Bianca Hall The British government has ruled out paying ''act of grace'' compensation to Australian soldiers deliberately exposed to nuclear bomb testing at Maralinga in South Australia 61 years ago.
Illegal? See the UN, says Abbott
Bianca Hall Tony Abbott's office has defended his continued use of the word ''illegal'' to describe asylum seeker boats by referring to the UN Refugee Convention.
Asylum seeker industry's $8 billion money spinner
Matt O'Sullivan and Bianca Hall A surge in asylum seekers held in detention centres on Australia's mainland and Pacific island outposts is proving to be a growing money spinner for companies contracted by the Immigration Department.
Serco profits rise as detention contracts hit $1.86bn
Bianca Hall Private security company Serco's contracts with the government have blown out by $1.5 billion, as Australia's border protection system strains under the weight of increased flows of asylum seekers.
Asylum seekers denied legal rights: advocates
Bianca Hall Some of the Sri Lankan asylum seekers deported on Thursday did not speak with lawyers before they were expelled, Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor has confirmed.
Detention contracts worth $1.8b
Bianca Hall Private security company Serco's contracts with the government have blown out by $1.5 billion as the flow of asylum seekers has increased.
38 Geraldton boat arrivals sent back to Sri Lanka
Bianca Hall The federal government has forcibly returned 38 asylum seekers who made an epic 44-day boat voyage to Geraldton last week.
Brave men on tyre raft nominated for awards
Bianca Hall An Indonesian crewman and three missing asylum seekers from Myanmar have been nominated for Australian bravery awards.
Island trash transformed into whimsical treasure
Bianca Hall Rubber thongs are piled shoulder high at some beaches of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, a tiny Australian territory halfway to Sri Lanka.
Plea for a prayer when 'small, overcrowded' boat sinks
Michael Bachelard, Bianca Hall An asylum seeker vessel that sank off Indonesia's coast early on Friday morning has plunged the country's search and rescue agency into disarray as 58 people remain missing.
Doctors urged to not force-feed detainees
Bianca Hall Melbourne asylum seekers engaged in a hunger strike could have just days to live.
Asylum seekers land in Geraldton
Bianca Hall and Aleisha Orr Sixty-six asylum seekers landed within the harbour limits of Geraldton on Tuesday, after telling rescuers they had spent 44 days at sea from Sri Lanka, more than 8000 kilometres from Western...
