Greater Dandenong City Council is proud to have been part of a broad advocacy movement that has resulted in the Federal Government’s recent announcement that people with Temporary Protection Visas (TPVs) or Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (SHEVs) will be able to seek permanent residency status in Australia.
We are thrilled that our Back Your Neighbour advocacy campaign to the Federal Government last year, in collaboration with 39 other Councils and other peak bodies throughout Australia, has seen a just and enduring outcome for this group.
The conversion of TPVs to permanent visas will allow people, some of whom have been in Australia for more than a decade, to finally feel that this country is their home.
The Back Your Neighbour advocacy campaign called on the Federal Government to:
- replace the existing ‘Fast Track’ system with a single Refugee Status Determination process and an independent, timely and fair merits review
- abolish temporary visas like TPVs and SHEVs and replace them with permanent protection visas and pathways to citizenship for all humanitarian arrivals
- invest resources to urgently clear the backlog of asylum applications/appeals in order to create an efficient system
- provide access to Medicare, income support, employment support, mental health, NDIS and other vital services
- ensure people seeking asylum have work and study rights, including access to local fees for university and TAFE.
The campaign also called on State and Territory Governments to provide funding to local services who are supporting individuals and families seeking asylum.
For more information visit the Back Your Neighbour website.
Cr Eden Foster
Mayor