In the media
In court
Crikey and The Conversation published explainers on how the High Court’s reversal of the Al-Kateb case, whereby successive governments indefinitely detained people even when there was no prospect of deportation, has made the government liable for damages. Two people were charged with people smuggling offences after they landed a boat carrying five people on a beach in Far North Queensland.
In Nauru
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie used Parliamentary privilege to expose threatening behaviour by staff employed to transfer and monitor the people who Australia has sent to Nauru. The Saturday Paper chronicled the various ways in which the government has sought to prevent information about the Nauru program from being made public.
In the community
A woman who came to Australia as a refugee became the first woman from Afghanistan to summit Mt Everest. As all eyes turned to the Football World Cup, SBS News profiled how football in Australia embraces refugees and migrants.
International
UNRWA published its latest situation report on Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Canada’s tightening of access to asylum has caused concern among those working with refugees there. The UN Human Rights Commissioner has called the unfolding situation in El-Obeid (Sudan) a ‘catastrophe’ as concerns mount that the RSF could repeat the atrocities that they committed in El Fasher. Following a successful trilateral meeting facilitated by the UNHCR, the governments of DRC and Rwanda recommitted to supporting voluntary returns of people to their respective homes.
In policy
Asylum seekers who were brought to Australia for medical treatment have called for changes to the bridging visa renewal system as they lose access to Medicare each time their 6-monthly visa needs renewing. After a successful trial, the refugee sponsorship program CRISP has become permanent. The Guardian featured a group in Apollo Bay who participated in the program to secure safe haven for an interpreter who had worked for Australia’s military forces in Afghanistan.
In research
Asylum Insight’s Charlotte Stump published an overview of Australia’s history of externalising its protection obligations to others. The UNHCR released its 2025 Global Trends report, noting a 3% decline in the number of refugees but an increase in the number of internally displaced people.
New releases and events
Out of the depths. The first collection of Holocaust songs. A book by Joseph Toltz and Anna Boucher, published by Manchester University Press.