Australian Refugee Advisory Panel
The Australian Government announced the first Australian Refugee Advisory Panel (the Panel) in December 2023 as part of its suite of pledges at the Global Refugee Forum.
Establishing this Panel builds on Australia’s proud tradition of encouraging meaningful refugee participation. It recognises how lived experience shapes national and international dialogue and policy around refugees.
The Panel consists of nine outstanding people from diverse backgrounds. They have a range of lived refugee experiences and a wealth of thematic expertise, including refugee resettlement and complementary pathways, LGBTIQ+, gender, youth and inclusion, and refugee law.
The Panel members are:
- Apajok Biar
- Danijel Malbasa
- Elizabeth Lang
- Joseph Youhana
- Mohammed Yassin
- Noor Azizah
- Renee Dixson
- Shabnam Safa
- Shuja Jamal
All Panel members have held refugee status, sought asylum, or experienced forced displacement, and have since resettled in Australia. Members of the Panel are leaders in advocating for refugee rights. They will support the Government’s commitment to ensuring successful resettlement journeys.
The Panel will be a formal mechanism for meaningful refugee participation in Australia’s engagement with the international refugee protection system. Its functions include:
- bringing refugee perspectives, knowledge and experiences to inform international policy and programs relating to resettlement, complementary pathways, and humanitarian and development assistance to refugees.
- lending expert authority to Australian delegations in relevant international fora. It will also represent refugee perspectives from different communities across Australia.
- connecting to the refugee leadership ecosystem, utilising connections to refugee community networks in Australia and globally.
- encouraging meaningful refugee participation in the international community.
Since its establishment, Panel members have joined international Australian Government delegations to the:
- Global Refugee Forum, held in Geneva, 13-15 December 2023
- UNHCR Consultations of Resettlement and Complementary Pathways, held in Geneva, 5-7 June 2024.
The Panel will also work with the Government as it chairs the Global Task Force on Refugee Labour Mobility, among other activities.
Panel members were selected through an EOI process overseen by a selection committee. This committee comprised:
- prominent former refugees
- NGO representatives
- representatives from the Department of Home Affairs and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Panel, the Department of Home Affairs, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are currently co-designing the Panel’s Terms of Reference.
The Panel has been appointed for an initial 18-month term. The Panel will then undergo an independent evaluation to consider its effectiveness and any future improvements.
