The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) is an asylum seeker support organisation in Australia. The ASRC, based in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, provides aid, justice and empowerment programs to over 1000 asylum seekers living in the community seeking refugee protection. The ASRC is run by a team of over 1000 volunteers and around 100 paid staff, and is headed by former university lecturer and lawyer Kon Karapanagiotidis .
Soon after the centre was opened in June 2001, attention was brought to the general public to asylum seekers' issues by the "Tampa affair" in August of that year. This incident, when the Australian Government under Prime Minister John Howard refused to grant the Norwegian freighter MV Tampa permission to enter Australian waters after it had rescued 438 Afghan asylum seekers, prompted greater interest in the centre and led to more volunteers signing up.
History
The ASRC was founded on 8 June 2001 by Kon Karapanagiotidis, a lawyer, who was at the time a lecturer in welfare studies at the Victoria University of Technology (now Victoria University). At the time there were many asylum seekers living in the community on the Bridging Visa E, a visa generally given to those "unlawfully" in the community who have to depart before the visa expires, though many are still appealing their case for asylum. Those on a Bridging Visa E are denied access to Medicare or Centrelink and do not have the right to work. Karapanagiotidis and his welfare students raised funds to create a small food bank for asylum seekers, opening on 8 June 2001. A non-profit enterprise, Grasslands Grocery and Information Cafe, provided the ASRC with two rooms free of rent above a disused shop in Footscray, Melbourne.
To accommodate the increase in the number of asylum seekers receiving assistance, volunteers and programs, the ASRC has moved a number of times since 2001. One of the first programs to be introduced was the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program, beginning in August 2001. The Australian Government provides up to 510 hours of free English tuition to newly arrived citizens under the Adult Migrant English Program. Due to visa conditions, however, not all asylum seekers were provided these classes.
After the Tampa incident in August 2001, an ASRC volunteer information evening in September 2001 had a high attendance. Soon afterwards, Karapanagiotidis, along with volunteer lawyers, began providing free legal services to assist with asylum claims. In early 2002, the ASRC launched a number of new services, such as the first health service for asylum seekers in Victoria as well as counselling and casework services. In that year, the ASRC received funding from the Myer Foundation to employ a full-time coordinator.
Over the next few years, the ASRC introduced several new services, including the Employment Program, Social and Recreation Program, the Volunteer Support Program, the Community Meals Program and the Detention Friendship Program.
In 2007, the ASRC moved to a larger space in West Melbourne, allowing for further expansion. Again, new services were introduced, including the Small Business and Social Enterprise Program, ASRC Catering, Kidzone, the Asylum Seeker Outreach Children's Playground, the Micro-Credit Scheme, Repatriation and the Post Detention Release Support Program.
In 2014, the ASRC moved to a still larger space at 214-218 Nicholson Street, Footscray.
Mission and functions
The mission of the ASRC is to ensure that "all those seeking asylum in Australia have their human rights upheld and that those seeking asylum in our community receive the support and opportunities they need to live independently". Their core values are to "assist all asylum seekers regardless of race, religion, gender, health or sexuality". The ASRC says it does not means or merit test for access to its services. Rather, they "advocate for asylum seekers without fear or favour", working both at the personal and legislative level. They are focused on both empowering asylum seekers towards self-determination, as well as educating the community about asylum seekers.
Advocacy
While much of the work conducted by the ASRC is the provision of services to asylum seekers, it also advocates for the rights of asylum seekers, and runs a series of campaigns at any one time.