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Just as Jesus portrays heaven as a place of lavish, gracious, ‘borderless’ hospitality and celebration, we long for Australia to exercise this same generosity to all people who come to our shores seeking safety from persecution. 

To pursue peace, restoration and welcome for people seeking asylum in Australia we seek to challenge the systems and structures in our country that do not foster a nation of inclusion, acceptance, and protection. We call for more embrace and protections for people seeking asylum so that Australia can be a place of compassion and generosity.

The Australian context

We’ve been grateful for the change in posture by the incoming government of 2022 and the Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, Andrew Giles.

Since the 2022 federal election, Australia has seen around 20,000 people who are on temporary humanitarian visas be granted a pathway to permanency, stability and hope. We’ve also seen an increase in our baseline humanitarian intake to 20,000.

These are steps that the Common Grace movement, alongside the wider sector, have been calling for. We are thankful that the government has listened.

We know that more needs to be done. The Labour government is still falling short of their pledge to increase our humanitarian intake to 27,000, plus an additional 5,000 community sponsored places.

Australia’s foreign aid levels to support displaced people overseas and build security in regions impacted by conflict is at a historic low. We should be rapidly rebuilding Australian aid and increasing our support for those being displaced.

There are also still thousands of people seeking asylum in Australia that have been here for up to a decade, many of whom have had their claims for asylum rejected by the former governments heavily criticised and unfair “Fast-Track” system. Australia should do more to provide certainty and security to this cohort.

Go deeper in learning about people seeking asylum

One of the most important things you can do to contribute to a country which welcomes refugees is to learn more and encourage your church or faith community to go deeper in learning about people seeking asylum and the issues they face, biblical principles that underpin a Christian response, and what the Australian context is. 

Expand your understanding and awareness through these resources:

• Common Grace Bible Study Series -  includes stories from people with lived experience of seeking asylum, bible passages and discussion questions that will inspire, challenge and encourage you to reflect on the role and opportunity we all have in creating communities that love and seek justice for our refugee neighbours.
• Biblical Response
• Christian Leaders Raising their voice for Justice
• Book Review: Refugee Reimagined 
• Common Grace blogs about people seeking asylum