Asylum seeker families eligible for release on bridging visas

According to an article in smh.com.au, asylum seeker families will be released into the community with no work rights and just minimal financial support, under changes announced by Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor.

Mr O'Connor said families would be eligible for release into the community on bridging visas while their claims for protection are heard, arguing detention took a toll on people's mental health.

The announcement, which comes a week before the federal budget, is expected to ease the financial pressure for the government of catering for increased flows of asylum seekers. Mr O'Connor acknowledged that keeping people in detention facilities for long periods of time was more expensive than release into the community.

However Mr O'Connor cautioned the families would still be subject to the government's ''no advantage'' rule, and would wait as long for their protection claims to be processed as they would if they had waited in an offshore refugee camp.

"The alternative to putting asylum seekers in the community is to detain people while their claims for protection are assessed," Mr O'Connor said.

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