Features of a good refugee processing system in Australia

Q. Thinking about asylum seekers arriving in Australia, how important do you think each of the following features are for a good refugee processing system?

	Very important	Important	Not very important	Not at all important	Don’t know		Total Important	Total Not Important
Stopping the boats	52%	22%	11%	8%	7%		74%	19%
Keeping costs down	47%	34%	11%	2%	6%		81%	13%
Protecting human rights	42%	38%	9%	5%	6%		80%	14%
Avoiding prolonged detention	35%	33%	13%	12%	8%		68%	25%
Making sure children have their claims processed in Australia	26%	32%	18%	13%	11%		58%	31%
Allowing Australian courts to review claims	22%	34%	16%	16%	12%		56%	32%
Approval from the United Nations	22%	32%	20%	16%	11%		54%	36%
Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled	20%	29%	18%	20%	13%		49%	38%

Please note: ‘Total Important’ is an aggregate figure achieved by adding ‘Very Important’ and ‘Important’ together.  ‘Total Not Important’ is an aggregate figure that has been achieved by adding ‘Not very important’ and ‘Not at all important’ together.

The most important feature of a ‘good refugee processing system’ is ‘keeping the costs down’, with 81% of respondents regarding this to be either very important or important, followed by ‘protecting human rights’ (80% total important).

Seventy four per cent (74%) of respondents believed that ‘stopping the boats’ is an important feature and 68% regard ‘avoiding prolonged detention’ to be an important feature.

Amongst the least important features of a good refugee processing system is ‘approval from the United Nations’, with only 54% regarding this to be important and 36% viewing it as not important.

Making sure asylum seekers are not returned to the countries they have fled was the least important attribute, with only 49% believing it to be important and 38% regarding it as not important.