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Features of a good refugee processing system in Australia

26 Sep 2011

Q. Thinking about asylum seekers arriving in Australia, how important do you think each of the following features are for a good refugee processing system?

Very important Important Not very important Not at all important Don’t know Total Important Total Not Important
Stopping the boats 52% 22% 11% 8% 7% 74% 19%
Keeping costs down 47% 34% 11% 2% 6% 81% 13%
Protecting human rights 42% 38% 9% 5% 6% 80% 14%
Avoiding prolonged detention 35% 33% 13% 12% 8% 68% 25%
Making sure children have their claims processed in Australia 26% 32% 18% 13% 11% 58% 31%
Allowing Australian courts to review claims 22% 34% 16% 16% 12% 56% 32%
Approval from the United Nations 22% 32% 20% 16% 11% 54% 36%
Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled 20% 29% 18% 20% 13% 49% 38%

Please note: ‘Total Important’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘Very Important’ and ‘Important’ together.  ‘Total Not Important’ is an aggregate figure that has been achieved by adding ‘Not very important’ and ‘Not at all important’ together.

The most important feature of a ‘good refugee processing system’ is ‘keeping the costs down’, with 81% of respondents regarding this to be either very important or important, followed by ‘protecting human rights’ (80% total important).

Seventy four per cent (74%) of respondents believed that ‘stopping the boats’ is an important feature and 68% regard ‘avoiding prolonged detention’ to be an important feature.

Amongst the least important features of a good refugee processing system is ‘approval from the United Nations’, with only 54% regarding this to be important and 36% viewing it as not important.

Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled was the least important attribute, with only 49% believing it to be important and 38% regarding it as not important.

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