Australia’s Humanitarian Program 2025–26
5 September 2025
On 19 August 2025, the Law Council provided a submission to the Department of Home Affairs in response to its Discussion Paper on Australia’s Humanitarian Program for 2025–26.
The Law Council welcomed the overall vision set out in the Discussion Paper, and the Australian Government’s commitment to increase humanitarian protection generally, in line with global need. In the context of overall immigration spending and the Department’s proposal to keep the overall size of the Humanitarian Program at 20,000 places, the submission made a series of recommendations for the Government to show leadership in refugee resettlement and maintain the generosity of the Humanitarian Program, including to:
- Increase the (offshore) refugee resettlement portion of the Humanitarian program to keep pace with global resettlement needs;
- Adequately fund the Humanitarian Program, improve services for applicants, and ensure the Program is sufficiently flexible to adapt to changing global circumstances;
- More clearly present figures in relation to Australia’s contribution to addressing the global refugee crisis;
- Properly establish, expand and resource the Skilled Refugee Labour Agreement Pilot; and
- Issue ImmiCards expeditiously for those who do not hold valid passports or other travel documents.
The Law Council thanks the Migration Law Committee of its Federal Dispute Resolution Section and constituent bodies for their input to the submission.
Last Updated on 03/09/2025
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