The Edmund Rice Centre has questioned the changes to asylum policy announced today by the Federal Government, naming them as running in direct contradiction to what Australia is asking of other nations in our region.

The Edmund Rice Centre welcomes the Expert Panel's recommendation to lift the humanitarian intake quota to 20,000 (to increase to 27,000 over the next 5 years). This is a tacit recognition that there are serious conflicts around the world which force people to flee to escape death and persecution, in some of which conflicts Australia has played a very active role.

The Edmund Rice Centre today called upon Federal politicians to forge a 'concrete and durable mechanism' for bipartisan cooperation on Australia's asylum policy.