This report brings together the voices, experiences and demands of civil society from across the Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand. It has been endorsed by the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network and 55 organisations and networks across seven countries, including the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education. The report presents a comprehensive vision for a new climate finance goal that delivers for the most vulnerable communities, and that sets the world on track to scale up climate action, phase out fossil fuels and transition to a cleaner, greener and more just future for all.

Click here to download the report.

The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade, through the Foreign Affairs and Aid Subcommittee (the Committee), has commenced an inquiry into Australia’s response to the priorities of Pacific Island countries and the Pacific region. Click here to download our submission to this inquiry. The Committee is scheduled to report back on the inquiry on 29 November 2024.

A while back I retired as the State Coordinator of Aboriginal Education from 1999 to 2012 for a major education system. During my tenure Indigenous students enjoyed their highest an continually growing outcomes both educationally and socially. There were two reasons for that.

Firstly, targeted IESIP funding where I could hold accountable schools using ever growing targets as well as controlling the uses of Indigenous funding.

Secondly and most importantly there were large numbers of Aboriginal Education Workers in all schools.

Overall the Australian Government’s 2024 Budget is one that lacks vision and a clear path forward in the three policy areas which the Edmund Rice Centre focuses on: First Nations, Refugees and People Seeking Asylum, and Pacific climate justice.  More broadly, the Budget fails to address fundamental, long-term challenges facing everyday Australians, including the housing crisis and the underfunding of key services such as our public education system.

First Nations

The redirection of $20 million from support for a Voice to Parliament to other policy priorities is excused as being in line with the result of the recent Referendum. However, this decision is not in line with the bi-partisan commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its priorities, nor is it in line with Australia's international commitments as a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. 

On 27 March 2024, the Australian government hastily introduced the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024 (the Bill) to Parliament. The Bill raises significant human rights concerns, particularly regarding Australia’s obligations under the Refugee Convention and its protocols. The Bill primarily targets non-citizens, including holders of Bridging (Removal Pending) visas, Bridging (General) visas and potentially other non-citizens as specified in the Bill Regulations. Failure to comply with a removal direction could result in mandatory imprisonment between 1 and 5 years, significant fines or both, without consideration given to the risk of persecution or other serious potential harm associated with removal from Australia. The Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education strongly opposes the Bill and in the submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee, recommends it does not proceed to become legislation.

Click here to download our submission to the Senate Committee.

The Edmund Rice Centre is proud to present the Settlement Cities Report, a major new report by the Edmund Rice Centre about the settlement experiences of refugees in Australia. The report takes a place-based approach to refugee settlement, focusing on the LGAs where refugees most frequently settle in Australia.

Fairer Futures: Financing Global Climate Solutions, is a new report led by Oxfam and ActionAid and supported by the Edmund Rice Centre. 

How Australia responds to climate change over the next decade will determine the fate of billions of people globally and the stability and prosperity of the Pacific region. In order to contribute its fair share towards global climate solutions, this report makes a number of recommendations, including the following:

The Edmund Rice Centre launched officially its new research report Refugee Employment Experience: Struggles, Strategies and Solutions on Tuesday 27 July 2021.

The report highlights the refugee perspective on working and looking for work by listening to what refugees themselves say about their job seeking efforts and their experiences in the Australian labour market. The report calls for several changes in how refugees are supported to find employment, including: moving away from the generalist Jobactive model to the provision of more tailored support, shifting the focus of employment support programs from providing training opportunities to creating opportunities to work, and addressing the systemic discrimination refugees face in the labour market.  

Our international partners the Kiribati Climate Action Network (KiriCAN), Edmund Rice International and Franciscans International, prepared a submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review of Kiribati. 

The Human Rights Council session is taking place in Geneva from 20-31 January 2020. 

Click the following link to download the report on Settlement Experience of Syrian and Iraqi Refugees

Settlement Experience of Syrian and Iraqi Refugees: Opportunities, Challenges and the Way Forward

After a pilot community evaluation project in 2017 in which the settlement needs and challenges of newly arrived Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Sydney were evaluated, the Edmund Rice Centre launched the “Syrian and Iraqi Refugee Settlement Experience Research” in 2018. The research investigates the settlement experience of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in Sydney, specifically the gap between what is currently provided and what is needed to achieve positive well-being outcomes for refugee settling in Australia.