Reference:
https://www.refworld.org/policy/strategy/unhcr/2024/en/148761
Online Marketplace Project Snapshot
The Citizenship Project: Legal Support for Stateless People in Australia
International
The Citizenship Project: Legal Support for Stateless People in Australia
Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness / Stateless Legal Clinic
41,651 USD
6-12 months
GRF-07752 - Government of Australia – Protection - Ending Statelessness – The Australian Government pledges to become members [sic] of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness (once established) to actively and collaboratively support the vision of a world free from statelessness so that everyone enjoys the right to nationality without discrimination; and GRF-07456 - Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness - The Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness pledges to become a member of the new Global Alliance to End Statelessness (once established) to actively and collaboratively support the vision of a world free from statelessness so that everyone enjoys the right to nationality without discrimination.
• SDG 16: Provide legal identity for all by 2030. • SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries. • SDG 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education (citizenship allows stateless children and adults to access education in Australia) • SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages (citizenship allows for access to Medicare in Australia and access to mental health support)
- Action 2: Ensure that no child is born stateless
- Action 6: In migratory context, determine statelessness, and protect and facilitate naturalization of stateless persons
- Action 11: Ensure stateless persons can enjoy their rights
In 2024, Australia reported 8313 stateless people in Australia, including children. Through acquisition of Australian citizenship, they can end the inter-generational cycle of statelessness with life-changing results. Although children born in Australia to stateless parents have a right to Australian citizenship by law, our research shows many families are unaware of this right and require free and expert legal support in navigating the complex citizenship application process. In 2021, the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness established the Stateless Legal Clinic (SLC). This ground-breaking clinic is the first of its kind in Australia and one of a few globally, partnering with impacted communities, the Australian legal industry to provide essential legal support to stateless children nationally, assisting over 100 children in applying for citizenship to date. We are in urgent need of expanding our services to meet a critical unmet legal need. Recent changes to the law mean thousands of previously ineligible stateless children and adults have become entitled to Australian citizenship. As a stateless person, the consequences of making a mistake when applying for Australian citizenship, can be severe. Simple mistakes—whereby somebody accidentally records inconsistent identity information—can result in visa cancellation, immigration detention and possible removal to Nauru. As the only service coordinating free and legal support to stateless people in the country, we require additional resources to meet this critical unmet need. Working with our partners, the Citizenship Project aims to provide free, expert legal support to stateless children and adults with their application for Australian citizenship.
The Citizenship Project aims to change the lives of stateless people in Australia for the better, by enabling access to citizenship and ending statelessness. Additional funding will allow the SLC to reach significantly more people who are now eligible for Australian citizenship than was the case previously. This will be accomplished through essential additional resourcing to assist stateless children and adults apply for Australian citizenship, with life-changing impact for stateless communities around the country. It will address a critical unmet legal need throughout Australia and provide a much-needed referral pathway for refugee service providers in contact with stateless communities. It will also reduce the risk of stateless people having their visa cancelled and being removed to Nauru (a nation not signatory to the two Statelessness Conventions) by ensuring their citizenship applications are drafted by lawyers and paralegals with expert legal knowledge. In the words of one former family that we have assisted: ‘We feel so happy and relieved that our daughter now has Australian citizenship. This will allow her to go to school, university - build a life and have opportunity. Nobody in our family - for generations - has ever known what it is to be a citizen. We could not have done this without help and support from the Stateless Legal Clinic.’
The SLC is committed to working closely with, and being led by, impacted communities. The Clinic’s ambassador is formerly stateless person, Fadi Chalouhy. Mr Chalouhy is the first person to be granted an Australian skilled migrant visa and works closely with the SLC to oversee and support its development and operation. The SLC’s initial start-up grant, provided by the Cameron Foundation in 2021, was named in honour of Fadi’s mother, Hiam. In Fadi’s words, ‘For 25 years my mother and I struggled to find answers or even understand what statelessness is, and how to fight it. This clinic will give every mother and child currently in this situation a fighting chance.’ The SLC partners with organisations around Australia, including community legal centres (the Refugee Advice Casework Service, Refugee Legal, Asylum Seeker Resource Centre), Australian law firms (Lander & Rogers, King & Wood Mallesons, Russell Kennedy) and the University of Melbourne, offering Melbourne Law School students the opportunity to learn about statelessness and gain practical legal experience. Students with lived experience of statelessness are offered priority placements in the SLC and are mentored in recognition of their role as the rightful future leaders on advocacy and reform on this issue. The SLC also partners with impacted communities to deliver legal education, previously running a legal outreach session with the Australian Rohingya Women’s Development Organisation.
Stateless children and adults throughout Australia
Impacted community groups (providing a referral pathway for legal support and partnering to provide legal education and outreach), refugee community legal organisations (providing a targeted and expert referral pathway for stateless clients).
41,651 USD
41,651 USD
Why this project needs your support
Members of the Global Alliance to End Statelessness are driving innovative projects around the world, and we invite you to be part of this vital work. This snapshot gives you a brief look at one such initiative that needs your support. By contributing to projects like this, you can help create lasting change, uplift communities, and restore dignity to millions of people. Your involvement is crucial – together, we can turn the tide and build a future where statelessness is a thing of the past.
How to support
To support this initiative, please contact the Global Alliance Secretariat at stalliance@unhcr.org.
Together, we can turn the tide against statelessness and create a world where everyone enjoys their right to a nationality, and can fully contribute to society.
Disclaimer: The listing of snapshots on the Online Marketplace or inclusion in the offline repository, and their pitching to potential donors by the Global Alliance Secretariat, does not represent an endorsement by the Global Alliance, its members, or UNHCR as the Secretariat of the Global Alliance. All due diligence, background checks, and financial or legal accountability considerations are the sole responsibility of the donors concerned and should be conducted in accordance with their own regulations and requirements. The Global Alliance and its Secretariat do not endorse, participate in, or bear any legal or financial responsibility for the funding agreements or their implementation. For clarifications and additional information, please contact the Global Alliance Secretariat at stalliance@unhcr.org