All posts by RAC

The Refugee Action Collective (Victoria) condemns every type of discrimination and any associated criminal conduct – all of it being behaviour that Australian law prohibits. But RAC (Vic) opposes the intrusive, coercive Plan[1] that Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, recommends for adoption by the Albanese Labor government.

If fully adopted, the Plan would see new policies and self-appointed monitoring bodies that, under the cloak of combating antisemitism, would “go far beyond any protections offered any other group”[2] – and would, in effect, threaten freedom of speech in relation to Israel.

For example, the Plan’s item 3.1 Definitions would require (RAC’s italics) “all levels of government and public institutions” to adopt and use “the [very complex] International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition, including its illustrative examples” to identify antisemitism. But one example, “[Comparing] contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis”, could see people being officially defined as ‘antisemites’ for comparatively criticising Israel’s genocide of Gaza’s Palestinians. That would threaten all pro-Palestinian protestors, writers and speakers – some of whom are Jewish Australians.

Yet, as lawyer Josh Bornstein has pointed out, a court recently “correctly determined that political criticism of Israel, however inflammatory or adversarial, is not by its nature, criticism of Jews in general or based on Jewish racial or ethnic identity and therefore was not antisemitic or unlawful”. Bornstein sees “Segal’s proposals … as an attempt to subvert the legal system …”[3].

Item 3.4 says “The Envoy will develop … a report card, assessing each university’s … [steps taken] to combat antisemitism”, … [so that universities which] “facilitate, enable, or fail to act against antisemitism” could have government funding cut, and “academics … [termin-ated for] antisemitic or … hateful speech or actions”. The PM must reject a report card that is a ‘self-appointed judge and jury’ of self-governing academic institutions and their staff.

Further, item 3.13 seeks “a robust monitoring and evaluation framework to track the imple-mentation and effectiveness of antisemitism … initiatives across all sectors [RAC’s italics]”.

The report pays no regard to such institutions as the Australian Human Rights Commission that work against racism and discrimination. It is also ignorant: item 3.9 recommends use of the Migration Act to screen out visa applicants for antisemitism, and cancel antisemites’ visas – yet screening and cancellation for any discriminatory threat (not just antisemitism) has been occurring for years under that Act’s section 501 “character test”. (However, RAC (Vic) opposes the ‘semi-automatic’ deportation of people whose visas are cancelled.) 

In short, Segal’s Plan calls for antisemitism-only visa measures; and for yet-to-be-identified antisemitism monitoring bodies empowered to suggest de-funding of universities, the ABC, SBS and cultural bodies – for antisemitism or insufficient combating thereof. But, as Manne observes (at p 4), the Plan seeks no consequences whatever for “bigotry against indigenous Australians, Muslims, women and gays”. We call on Prime Minister Albanese to reject this partisan over-reach of a Plan, and terminate the appointment of its author.

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[1].    Special Envoy’s Plan to Combat Antisemitism, July 2025.
[2].    Robert Manne, “The wrong way to respond to antisemitism”, Inside Story, 18 July 2025, p 2. Manne, a veteran Jewish Australian academic, is Emeritus Professor of Politics at La Trobe University.
[3] .   Josh Bornstein, “Antisemitism envoy Segal has laid a trap for Albanese”, The Age, 16 July 2025.

The Refugee Action Collective (Vic) welcomes the defeat of Peter Dutton and the Coalition in the federal election.

Dutton has a disgusting track record of fomenting racism towards refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants.

He tried to whip up fear in Melbourne over supposed African gangs. As Home Affairs Minister he warned against a “single act of compassion to refugees”. And in this election campaign he blamed migrants for housing problems created by years of bad government policy.

But Labor’s win under Anthony Albanese still leaves thousands of asylum-seekers and refugees in cruel limbo.

In 2022, the first Albanese government hid behind excuses for its inaction over refugees. Its small majority, the power of the Murdoch media and the challenge of cleaning up the mess left by successive Coalition governments supposedly ruled out bold policy decisions.

There can be no more hiding. In the lower house, Labor has 51 more seats than the Coalition. In the senate, it can pass progressive policy with the sole support of the Greens. The Murdoch media is a shadow of its former self – it wholeheartedly backed Dutton and his defeat shows that Murdoch is no king-maker.

Once again, Albanese told his election night victory party, “No one held back, no one left behind.” If he means what he says, then his government needs to take the following actions as a matter of urgency. Too many asylum-seekers and refugees have suffered for too long.

• Permanent visas now for the 8000 or so victims of the failed, racist “fast track” system and those who came to Australia under Medevac legislation
• Bring the remaining two dozen refugees and their families in Port Moresby to Australia
• Bring the 100 or so asylum-seekers on Nauru to Australia and close the detention centre there
• Allow the 12,000 refugees marooned in Indonesia by an Australian ban to come here
• Repeal the Trump-style laws passed in December 2024 that threaten up to 80,000 people with deportation to danger.

RAC Vic will continue to campaign for the Albanese government to end the cruelty and uncertainty.

Our first post-election forum is on Monday 2 June, focusing on the deportation laws. We are holding a rally in the city on Friday 20 June as part of Refugee Week.

The fight for refugee rights will continue until Operation Sovereign Borders and its regime of boat turnbacks, offshore detention and mandatory detention is in the dustbin of history side by side with Dutton.

Speech delivered by Tamil refugee Rathy Barthlote, Refugee Women Action for Visa Equality and Tamil Refugee Council, at a RAC forum on 3 March 2025

We are refugees—people created by imperialist wars and global power struggles. We are the remnants of your wars, left without a home, without dreams, struggling to survive. We fled persecution, ethnic and religious hatred, and arrived seeking safety, only to find ourselves trapped in limbo.

As Eelam Tamils, our journey has been marked by destruction, displacement, and the loss of our homeland. For generations, we have been forced to live as refugees, stripped of our rights, our dignity, and our place in the world. We were driven out of our ancestral land, subjected to unimaginable suffering, and denied the right to return.

For over 30 years, our people have endured immense pain. The bloodshed and trauma of war still linger in our homeland, leaving behind wounds that refuse to heal.

In 2009, the Sri Lankan state committed genocide against Tamils. As a result, thousands of Eelam Tamils sought refuge in countries like Australia. Even after the war ended, the Sri Lankan state continued its oppression—abducting Tamils under the guise of “investigations,” subjecting them to brutal torture and sexual violence. International human rights organisations, including the UN and the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), have documented these atrocities.

To this day, our missing loved ones remain unaccounted for. Tamil ancestral lands are being taken over and new Buddhist temples are being forcefully established in our homeland to erase our identity. Our way of life is being disrupted, our culture is under attack, and our future generations are being deliberately destroyed through the spread of drugs and systemic oppression.

The same racist government that rules Sri Lanka today is the one that endorsed the massacre of Tamils in 1983 and blocked peace negotiations. They called and supported Rajapaksa’s genocidal actions against Tamils, continue to enforce draconian anti-terror laws against Tamils, re-imprison former political prisoners, and have even created watchlists for Tamil refugees returning from abroad, leading to immediate arrests at the airport. Just last week they banned numerous Tamil rights groups in the diaspora.

Despite knowing all this, Australia—while presenting itself as a defender of refugee rights—has signed international agreements but refuses to grant us protection. For over 12 years, we have been left in limbo, denied permanent residency, and forced to live with uncertainty.

We are mentally and physically exhausted, suffering from extreme stress and trauma. Separated from our loved ones for years, many of us have developed severe mental health conditions. How many more lives must be lost before action is taken? Even today, we have lost another member of our community to this injustice.

What was our crime? Why must our children suffer like this?

With nothing left to lose, 22 refugee women took action in September 2023, marching on foot from Melbourne to Canberra to protest Australia’s anti-refugee policies. This was followed by a 100-day protest, from July to October, where we endured extreme weather conditions, demanding permanent visas. Our protest gained the support of people from different backgrounds, yet we still have not received a solution.

12 years is not just a number—it is a lifetime of living in fear, uncertainty, and oppression. And yet, our future remains a question mark.

We demanded justice and dignity, but all we have received is betrayal. In 2022, the Labour government promised change. They called the “Fast Track” visa system unfair and vowed to abolish it. Yet, today, 9500 refugees remain in limbo. Our lives have not changed—we are still prisoners in this open-air detention.

We have committed no crime. For 12 years, we have been part of this society, contributing to it. But the wounds on our bodies and minds remain deep.

Despite all this, we are not defeated. We are not giving up. We will continue to fight.

Until the government listens to our voices, we will not remain silent. Until they give us a permanent solution, our struggle will continue. We are waiting, but not in silence—not in submission! We will amplify our voices, intensify our resistance, and demand our rights.

This fight is not just ours—it is a struggle between the powerful and the oppressed, between the government and the people, between justice and injustice.

Until permanent visas are granted to all 9500 refugees, we will not stop!

To everyone standing with us today—you are our strength. Your dedication and support fuel our struggle. You understand that when injustice happens to any group of people, it is the responsibility of all to speak out.

We will win our rights. This is our promise, our oath!

Thank you.