Refugee Week 2026

This Refugee Week we joined in celebrating one million stories of welcome.

Refugee Week, 14 - 20 June, is a unique opportunity each year to learn from the experiences of people who have sought refuge and asylum, to celebrate the valuable contributions made by refugees to the world and our communities, and consider how we can take action together for justice.

In 2026, Refugee Week invited us to celebrate with the theme, ‘A Million Stories’, to mark the one million permanent humanitarian visas Australia has issued since international calls in 1947 to help resettle people after the horrors of WW2. 

This remarkable legacy of welcome is one we should be deeply proud of, and one that has woven a rich tapestry of shared stories into the heart of our communities and culture. 

To join in these celebrations we were thankful to share stories of welcome from across the Common Grace movement, and celebrate the recent impact of our calls together to #EndTheWaiting. Please join us in sharing these stories with your community and networks. 

We invite you to read Atta's and John's stories of seeking asylum on our shores, and reflections shared by Kelli Hughes’ and Rev. Nicholas Whereat of how they have taken action in their communities to welcome and advocate for those seeking safety, including taking part in the 2025 #EndTheWaiting prayer vigils. 

As we celebrate this milestone in Australia, Refugee Week also invites us to look to the future. 

How can our communities and country continue to be places of welcome and belonging for those seeking safety on our shores? 

How can the kindness and compassion that Jesus teaches ground and guide us in our response to the global humanitarian crisis? 

As part of Refugee Week 2026, Common Grace and the National Council of Churches’, Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce held a national webinar launching the 2026 #EndTheWaiting campaign.

At a time when there are more forcibly displaced people in the world than at any other point in human history, we gather to listen, reflect, and take action together. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 123.2 million people are currently displaced globally — around 1 in every 67 people worldwide - people fleeing for their lives, risking everything, in search of safety.

We believe that to follow Jesus is to practise love, care, and welcome—and that as the Church lives this out, we remind Australia who we are as a nation.

At our 2026 Refugee Week webinar we listened to people with refugee backgrounds sharing their part in our one million stories, alongside members of the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce exploring how churches and people of faith can take action to help #EndTheWaiting for those still being denied a place to belong.

Join us in calling to #EndTheWaiting for those still seeking safety, certainty, and belonging.

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Explore further resources and information below.

It is our deep hope and prayer that the resources below will help you and your community go deeper in learning more and taking action this Refugee Week, moving you closer towards God’s heart for justice, as we work towards the day when those who come to our shores for safety will be welcomed with kindness and compassion.

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Take Action

We were excited to launch the next stage of the #EndTheWaiting campaign at our 2026 Refugee Week Webinar after the positive response and action since our #EndTheWaiting prayer vigils together in 2025. 

Last year, Australian Christians gathered across the nation calling on the Government to #EndTheWaiting for people who had sought protection in our country, only to be denied a pathway to permanency. 

We're grateful to see the Government listened to the stories of asylum seekers around the country, as well as organisations and people like you who joined us in calling for a pathway to permanency for Asylum Seekers stuck in limbo. Of the 8000 Asylum Seekers living off temporary visas, 6500 have now been granted a pathway to permanency in the last year. 

We are deeply thankful to see what the life changing impact of this pathway to permanency has meant for thousands of people, and we continue to join our voices to calls to #EndTheWaiting for those still being denied a place to belong.

Please join us in our calls to #EndTheWaiting.

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Reflect + Learn More

Read a reflection written by Common Grace National Director Gershon Nimbalker on the growing global displacement crisis and the need to respond in love and welcome to those seeking safety on our shores.

Read Gershon's Refugee Week reflection

Take the opportunity to learn more and encourage your church or faith community to go deeper in listening to the voices of people seeking asylum and considering how you can take action together. Explore resources to spark conversations with your faith community below.

Common Grace’s 4-part Bible Study Resource 

Common Grace’s four-part Refugee Week Bible Study series shares powerful, personal stories from Common Grace’s 2022 Refugee Week series. Each study includes a story from someone with lived experience of seeking asylum, a bible passage, and a series of discussion questions that will inspire, challenge and encourage you to reflect on the role and opportunity that each of us has in creating communities that love and seek justice for our refugee neighbours.

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Connect with Community

Refugee Week offers a wonderful opportunity to engage and connect with our communities in celebration, support  and welcome for our brothers and sisters seeking asylum in Australia. You can find a range of events happening throughout Refugee Week at the Refugee Week webpage here. 

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Pray

Join in prayer for refugees and people seeking asylum around the world, led by Charles Louwren, senior lawyer providing compassionate legal support and help those navigating Australia’s complex immigration system, here.

Join in prayer for refugees and people seeking asylum around the world. Explore prayer resources for Justice for People Seeking Asylum here.  

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Donate

We invite you to be generous this Refugee Week by supporting the work of Common Grace. Your faithful generosity helps inspire and mobilise followers of Jesus to take collective actions that seek to make Australia more just. With your support the Common Grace movement can continue raising a loving, gracious voice in national conversations for justice for people seeking asylum. Your gift helps fuel this movement to pursue an Australia where those who come to our shores seeking safety and protection are welcomed with compassion. Please give today.