Australian Visa Reforms Welcome

New Visa Framework for People Trafficked into Australia

In a media release on Wed 27 May 2015  two federal government Ministers announced visa changes for people trafficked into Australia. The changes address concerns we in ACRATH have raised with the federal government over and over again during the past 6 years. I just want to acknowledge the tenacity of so many ACRATH members who have kept asking:

• for changes to visa names so they don’t stigmatise trafficked people,
• for access to English classes for people on temporary visas,
• for better access to Social Security payments.

So many people in ACRATH have worked on this issue – by writing to, and also meeting with, the relevant Ministers, by speaking to many many Members of Parliament, and by working strategically with government departmental officers, Ministerial advisors and with like-minded NGOs.

“These changes represent our collective work with victims who have faced real barriers to rebuilding free and independent lives,” says Christine Carolan, Executive Officer of Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH). For more detail see the Joint-NGO-Press-Release.