Castan Centre Home

Whistleblowers seeking asylum in Australia face an increasingly difficult battle, with one Russian family spending close to a decade homeless in WA. Our Deputy Director, Dr Maria O'Sullivan, told ABC, "During the Cold War, asylum was given to people who were against socialist countries for political reasons, there was a political ideology at play. It's hard to generalise but now the person really has to come to Australia and say, 'I'm a whistleblower please give me refugee status'."

Said Imasi has spent the last nine years of his life in immigration detention. Now, he is challenging his indefinite detention in the High Court. Our Deputy Director, Dr Maria O’Sullivan says "I think any positive decision, even on an extreme...scenario like this, would be beneficial." "A win for Imasi would be part of a process of “chipping away” at Al-Kateb and the system of indefinite detention."

Happy New Year! For those of you who are organised enough to have your 2019 diaries on hand, make sure you save the date for our annual conference - Friday 26 July 2019. Put it in the calendar and we’ll see you at #HumanRights19 - Australia’s leading human rights conference. Watch this space and join our mailing list to be the first to find out when tickets are released!

*CW: gendered violence* For too many women and children around Australia, there is a dark side to the festive season. Family violence incidents are set to increase over the coming week, with Boxing Day being the worst day of the year for family violence, followed by New Year's Day. If you or someone you know needs support, call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.