Victoria signs up to NDIS

Farrah Tomazin, Kirsty Needham Victoria has become the latest state to sign up to the National Disability Insurance Scheme, paving the way for tens of thousands of people to receive ongoing support based on their needs.

Boat refugees will be assessed as air arrivals

Kirsty Needham ASYLUM seekers arriving by boat will be assessed for refugee status in the same system as air arrivals from Saturday, as the federal government removes one of the last vestiges of the Howard...

Endless wait

Kirsty Needham Indonesian children crewing people smuggler boats are spending up to 735 days in prison in Australia as police try to determine their age, a Senate committee has heard.

Children detained with 'the worst of the worst'

Kirsty Needham Indonesian children caught on people smugglers' boats are spending up to 735 days in prison in Australia as police try to determine their age, a Senate committee has heard.

Indonesia once more rejects Abbott boats policy

Kirsty Needham Indonesia's foreign minister Marty Natalegawa has reinforced his country's discomfort with the Coalition's ''turn back the boats'' policy during a visit to Canberra today.

Asylum seekers win time limit court case

Kirsty Needham Full bench of the Federal Court rules there is no time limit on boat arrivals accessing the courts.

Asylum seekers facing court without help

Kirsty Needham Asylum seekers are resorting to going to court without legal representation because there is no government funding for lawyers.

Protest refugees accepted

Kirsty Needham Australia accepts for resettlement another 23 Tamil refugees from the group involved in a standoff in 2009.

Asylum seeker riot detainees found to be genuine refugees

Kirsty Needham Most asylum seekers detained during riots were later found to be refugees, new data shows, challenging an inquiry finding that blamed the unrest on rising numbers of rejected detainees.

Call to break refugee secrecy

Kirsty Needham ASIO's secretive method of assessing whether refugees are a security risk may breach the constitution, warns international law expert.

Asylum seekers bust the budget

Kirsty Needham Asylum seeker arrivals are outstripping federal budget predictions, with the seventh boat intercepted this month carrying the 671st asylum seeker into Australian waters for February.

Biased, but refugee reviewer still has job

Kirsty Needham THE Immigration Department has failed to take action against a senior refugee reviewer who has been found, for a second time, to appear biased against Afghan asylum seekers.

Supporters dismiss claim of red carpet for refugees

Kirsty Needham CHURCH leaders, health and charity groups have joined the federal government in condemning claims that conditions for asylum seekers living in flats and houses as part of community detention are...

Refugee obsession 'out of proportion'

Kirsty Needham THE UN's refugee chief has called Australia's obsession with asylum seekers arriving by boat ''out of proportion'' and called for the ''very politicised'' debate to be conducted in a less polarising...

UN chief calls for calm on refugees

Kirsty Needham Australia's obsession with asylum seekers 'out of proportion', says UN refugee chief.

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A third of asylum seekers to live outside detention

Kirsty Needham A THIRD of asylum seekers arriving by boat will be living in the community on bridging visas next year under a policy shift, the Immigration Department has revealed to a Senate hearing.

Miners let skills gap packages gather dust

Kirsty Needham MEASURES in the federal budget to tackle the skills shortage by helping big mining companies hire more foreign workers are yet to be used, a Senate committee has heard.

Amnesty calls for more bridging visas as boats keep coming

Kirsty Needham THE government has released 257 boat arrivals on bridging visas since its policy shift on detention, but in that time 1078 more asylum seekers have come ashore at Christmas Island.

Coalition defends costings on Nauru

Kirsty Needham Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has defended his use of an international catering and logistics company to provide costings for an asylum seeker centre on Nauru.