Immigration issues

Immigration issues

Make sense of Australia’s migration policies, with news reports and interviews about visas, citizenship, passports and more from the SBS News team.

Episodes

A rich cultural heritage celebrated in lights: Diwali

October 18, 2025 • 3 mins
Diwali is the biggest festival in India and many South Asian countries, marking the victory of good over evil and the triumph of light over darkness. It is celebrated by more than a billion people around the world, including diaspora communities in Australia.
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Yazidi refugees in Toowoomba find community through hockey

October 4, 2025 • 4 mins
The Queensland city of Toowoomba has become home to thousands of Yazidi refugees. A local hockey program is aiming to develop confidence and language skills for this community, with the help of retired locals on the field.
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Vital role of translators celebrated amid AI challenge

September 29, 2025 • 7 mins
It's been eight years since the United Nations first recognised International Translation Day. The celebration falls on 30 September and recognises the work of language professionals who foster cultural understanding, connection and social cohesion. But some translators and interpreters in Australia believe more needs to be done to protect the workforce and bridge language barriers.
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Australia's newest citizens welcomed in ceremonies on Australian Citizenship Day

September 17, 2025 • 6 mins
Thousands are celebrating becoming new Australians, as local councils hosted ceremonies around the country for Australian Citizenship Day. SBS spoke to some of the new citizens.
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Hope and hate: how governments around the world are responding to 'illegal' immigration

September 6, 2025 • 17 mins
Recently, local news headlines have been dominated by stories about anti-immigration rallies which were held across Australia on the last day of August. But it's not just in Australia where migration has created such deep feelings - it's also an issue that has been front and centre in the US as Donald Trump fulfils his election campaign promise to carry out mass deportations. There are now at least a million fewer immigrants in the...
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How a grandmother's curry tells the story of a family's migration journey

September 5, 2025 • 4 mins
Making a chicken curry on stage is not what you would usually expect when visiting the theatre. But for actor Joshua Jamil Hinton, it's the centrepiece of his show, due to open in Brisbane this month, telling his story of living between different cultures and grappling with his own identity.
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Anti-immigration rallies ignore Australia's economic dependence on migration

September 5, 2025 • 7 mins
Australia in anti-immigration marches.At the heart of what organisers called the 'March for Australia' rallies was a call to end "mass migration", which protesters claimed is to blame for issues like the housing crisis and rise in cost of living. Experts say a paradox exists in the anti-immigration ideas put forward at these rallies: the very people protesters want fewer of are the ones propping up the nation's economy, workforce, ...
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Thousands rally against immigration with neo-Nazis taking the spotlight

September 1, 2025 • 8 mins
A wave of nation-wide anti-immigration rallies have swept Australia's capital cities, with thousands joining marches and clashing with police and counter-protesters across the country. Organisers say the events were calling for an end to what they consider "mass migration" into Australia, while neo-Nazi groups infiltrated a number of the events to stir up chaos.
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'An attack on multiculturalism': government's new Nauru deal greeted with alarm

August 31, 2025 • 6 mins
The Federal Government has struck a $400 million deal with Nauru that it says paves the way for deportation of the so-called NZYQ cohort. The announcement has been met with outrage from advocates, human rights lawyers, and the Greens. Critics say the deal threatens fundamental legal rights in ways that could be applied more broadly.
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These Karen women are weaving new lives in Australia but fear for thousands struggling in camps

August 15, 2025 • 4 mins
As international aid dwindles, refugees worldwide face worsening food insecurity. Among thousands displaced by ongoing conflict in Myanmar, experts warn a humanitarian crisis is looming. Those who’ve found refuge in Australia are working to keep culture alive.
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Grants for social enterprises look to break cycles of disadvantage

August 13, 2025 • 3 mins
The federal government has announced there'll be 22 grants made to social enterprises to help support marginalised communities. It's part of an $11 million investment aimed at tackling issues like long-term unemployment and discrimination.
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Refugees in visa limbo for 13 years take their plight to Parliament

July 28, 2025 • 3 mins
A group of refugees who say they've been living in limbo in Australia for 13 years have taken their fight for permanent residency to federal parliament in Canberra.They're part of a group of more than 8,000 people who had their refugee protection claims rejected under a now-abolished visa system.
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'Bullying, yelling, sexual harassment, underpaid': study finds one in three young workers are ripped off

July 15, 2025 • 4 mins
A third of young workers in Australia are being paid less than $15 an hour - that's almost ten dollars below the minimum hourly wage. It's one of the key findings of a Melbourne University report showing 15 to 30 year olds are experiencing widespread breaches of labour laws. And those from non-English speaking backgrounds were shown to be the worst treated in the workplace.
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'Save us from this hopeless situation': Afghan refugee calls on Australia to protect his family

July 3, 2025 • 9 mins
Ahmad and his family have spent the past three and a half years living in limbo after fleeing the Taliban for Pakistan. He has now waited more than 42 months to hear a response to his Refugee and Humanitarian visa application from the Australian government. As Pakistani authorities boost efforts to deport migrants like Ahmad's family back to Afghanistan, he is fearing persecution and even death at the hands of the Taliban.
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‘I didn’t sleep at all’: One mother’s terrifying wait for news from a war zone

June 27, 2025 • 5 mins
It was a tense week for families with loved ones in the Middle East – especially for one Melbourne mother separated from her three sons in Iran. When phone and internet failed, she did not know if they had survived.
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Amy thought she had a secure job as an international student - she was wrong

June 21, 2025 • 6 mins
Since 2024, the federal government has launched several policies to restrict international student numbers, including raising the fees for student visa applications, and slowing down the processing time for visas. The new rules have significantly affected the independent education sectors, which provide English learning and vocational education to international students, leading to closures of some of these institutions.
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"We have to talk about the uncomfortable thing": refugee artists explore issues of identity and home

June 20, 2025 • 7 mins
The Internationally renowned slam poet known as Huda the Goddess has officially claimed the UNHCR-SBS Les Murray Award for Refugee Recognition. The honours coincide with World Refugee Day, which celebrates refugees and their contribution to society.
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Migrants reflect on life in Australia, 50 years after fleeing Timor-Leste

June 12, 2025 • 3 mins
This year, SBS marks 50 years of broadcasting, providing an important service to multicultural Australia through promoting inclusion and delivering in-language information. It's also the 50th anniversary of the biggest wave of Timorese migration to Australia. Fleeing conflict, the community has established its roots across the country while maintaining its language and traditions.
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'We're running out of time': Operation Babylift adoptees return to Vietnam to search for family

April 29, 2025 • 7 mins
As the world marks 50 years since the fall of Saigon and end of the Vietnam War, a group of adoptees who were taken out of the country prior to 1975 are racing against time to find the mothers they were separated from. An event spearheaded by Australian-Vietnamese adoptees saw a group of them embark on a bike ride to raise money for elderly Vietnamese residents and spread awareness of their ongoing search for family.
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Trauma casts a long shadow for immigration detainees

March 29, 2025 • 7 mins
A new report has highlighted alarming mental health outcomes for individuals who have spent time in detention. Refugees and migrants already experience lower rates of mental health literacy - but one initiative is looking to raise awareness and provide easy English resources in culturally and linguistically diverse communities. The initiative has emerged amid debate about controversial laws that would enable the government to depor...
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