Historically Australia has had an impressive record in assisting refugees but in more recent times refugees and asylum seekers have endured a rapidly changing profile in Australian society.

A national conference on asylum seekers and refugees in Australia will examine these issues in relation to government, non government organisations, the media and the general public.

The Integrity of our Shores - Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Australia conference will be held in Sydney tomorrow Friday 20 October, bringing together refugee and human rights agencies and researchers.

Conference co-convenor Dr Sharon Pickering from Charles Sturt University said the conference aims to create a link that will see an increase in academic research that will aid asylum seekers and refugees.

"What this conference is about is trying to make people more aware of the realities facing refugees in this country," Dr Pickering said.

"Perpetuated stereotypes and media that appear unwilling to challenge a very narrow government policy on these issues has seen the real stories and facts about the treatment and challenges facing refugees and asylum seekers in Australia, hidden from public view."

Media representation of refugees, asylum seekers law reform, alternatives to mandatory detention and the privatisation of detention centres are some of the issues to be discussed at the conference.

Conference organisers include Charles Sturt University's Centre for Cultural Research into Risk, the Refugee Council of Australia, Asylum Seekers Centre, National Council of Churches in Australia and Amnesty International.

The refugees and asylum seekers conference will be held at the United Theological College, 16 Masons Drive, North Parramatta, starting at 9am, Friday 20 October.

Conference Program Highlights

9.25am - 9.45am - The New Peril: the media and the 'boatpeople' Presenter: ABC journalist Peter Mares who is the presenter of "Asia Pacific", a regional current affairs program broadcast each week night on ABC Radio National and Radio Australia and is writing a book on Australia's treatment of asylum seekers.

9.45-11.15am -Natural Justice: Asylum Seeker Law Reform
Presenters: Kerry Murphy, Solicitor, Craddock Murray Neumann; John Clugston, Refugee Team, Amnesty International; Sue Harris, Advocate, National Council of Churches in Australia.

11.30am-12.30pm - Advocacy
Melissa Phillips, Refugee Council of Australia; Jock Collins, UTS; Zachary Steel, Liverpool Hospital; Ian Nicol, STARTTS. This presentation will look at the issue of advocacy: how the work academics do could be viewed as advocacy and how practitioners might use this.

1.30-3.15 pm Panel Session
1. Dr Sharon Pickering, Charles Sturt University - Common Sense and Deviancy: News Discourse and Asylum Seekers in Australia. This paper is concerned with recent discourse surrounding refugees and asylum seekers in the Australian print media.

2. Dr William Maley, Associate Professor of Politics, University College, UNSW, Australian Defence Force Academy - Australia's New Afghan Refugees: Context and Challenges There remains in Australia a serious ignorance of the circumstances which have recently forced Afghans to leave their homeland to seek protection in another, and of the problems which they confront on arrival in Australia.

3. Dr Katrina Schlunke, Charles Sturt University - Shores and National Selves: Figuring the Refugee. The refugee usually figures as between countries, belonging to one and living in another. As such the refugee has much to tell us about nationalism and the ways in which the refugee is produced through historical discourses about 'Australianism'.

4. Dr Kenneth Rivett, Honorary Visiting Fellow, UNSW - Mandatory Detention of Asylum Seekers: is there an Alternative?

5. Denis Voight, Refugee Displaced Persons Project Officer, South Australian Council of Churches - Strangers in our city, a problem as old as the Bible - A subversive reading of The Promise. The nature of sovereignty and land has always been contested, not only in Australia but also in the scriptural tradition of Christianity.

3.40-4.10pm - Community Cultural Development Fund Emerging Communities Initiative, Presenters: Gareth Wreford, Community Cultural Development Fund of the Australian Council for the Arts; and Perpetua Ekechukwa, Nigerian Women's Association of NSW.

4.10- 5 pm - Privatised Detention of Asylum Seekers
Discussants: Fedor Medansky, UNSW; Sylvia Winton, Asylum Seekers Centre; Patricia Ravalico, St Vincent de Paul; Sharon Pickering, Centre for Cultural Research into Risk, Charles Sturt University. What are the implications of privatised immigration detention centres? This panel will discuss the macro level issues about responsibility and transparency and the ways the government has recreated interactions with the community.

Further information: Victoria Jackson, CSU Media Office, telephone (02) 6338 4787 Or in Sydney on mobile 0438 643 012, Email vjackson@csu.edu.au More CSU news at www.csu.edu.au/news More details on conference see www.csu.edu.au/research/ccrr/events.htm