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Refugee Week is celebrated across Australia each year in June. Refugee Week promotes greater awareness of refugees, the issues they face, and their contributions to the Australian community.
Everyday, millions of people across the world embark on dangerous journeys for the sole purpose of finding safety and freedom. From Australia to nations across the globe, settling into a new environment after experiencing the perils of a refugee’s journey can also provide the opportunity to live, love, and dream.
The theme for Refugee Week 2025 is ‘Finding Freedom: Diversity in Community’.
What does it mean to be free?
To live without the fear of war, to have your basic human rights upheld, to live in equality and without the fear of persecution are just some of the examples of what freedom can entail. Every day millions of people across the world embark on dangerous journeys for the sole purpose of finding safety and freedom. From Australia to nations across the globe, settling into a new environment after experiencing the perils of a refugee’s journey can also provide the opportunity to live, to love and to dream.
Refugee Week incorporates World Refugee Day (June 20) each year, the international day to honour people who have been forced to flee.
Explore further resources
More information coming soon!
Books about refugees, reading list by Refugee Council of Australia | view
Films to watch, a list by Refugee Council of Australia | view
The Swimmers (Netflix 2022 film)
This documentary follows the story of Erfanullah, an interpreter for NATO Forces, who was evacuated to Australia after the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Taliban. The docuseries received Best Student Short Film at the Adelaide Film Festival.
Stateless (Netflix series)
Inspired by true events; a woman escaping a cult, a refugee fleeing with his family, a father trapped in a dead-end job, and a bureaucrat on the verge of a national scandal find their lives intertwined in an immigration detention centre.
Walk in My Shoes
Synopsis: What’s it like to flee your homeland? Siobhan Marin joins school students on a confronting immersive journey led by refugees —crossing a border, taking a dangerous boat trip, and being thrust into a detention centre.
Evacuation Afghanistan, The Story of Erfan
This documentary follows the story of Erfanullah, an interpreter for NATO Forces, who was evacuated to Australia after the fall of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to the Taliban. The docuseries received Best Student Short Film at the Adelaide Film Festival.
Watandar
When the Taliban take over Afghanistan, former Afghan-Hazara refugee and human rights activist Muzafar Ali is photographing the descendants of the Afghan Cameleers in Australia. He now knows he can never return home and his photography project becomes an even more personal journey; about losing your country and the importance of identity (Light Sound Art Film, n.d.).
Andrew & Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law podcast | Listen
This podcast is an academic look at the plight of refugees, and the reasons why people are forced to flee. Some of the episodes cover topics like displacement in the Pacific due to climate change as well as international refugee law.
SBS Living Loss: This podcast explores the stories of three refugees | Listen
RCOA Director of Community and Engagement Deena Yako, Mostafa Azimitabar, and RCOA Refugee Ambassador Oliver Selwa. Each person describes the challenges of leaving their homes and rebuilding their lives. The article also discusses the misconception that refugees are simply “ex-detainees” and the importance of sharing refugee stories.
Refugees on Air : SYN Media | Listen
Refugees On Air is a locally produced podcast about refugees recorded in Melbourne that gives a platform to refugee and asylum seeker stories who now call Australia home.
SBS’s New Home | Listen
Across eight episodes, SBS’s New Home podcast puts refugee women now living in rural and regional Australia on centre stage.
Forced To Flee | Listen
Produced by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, this podcast tells the extraordinary stories of people who have lived through some of the most tumultuous events of the past 70 years.
World Bank Podcast | Listen
This podcast discusses a range of difficulties, firsthand accounts, contributions, and methods for assisting those seeking protection or asylum.
Road to Refuge | Read more
A website is designed to give students, teachers and the community access to relevant, factual and current information about refugees.
Kaldor Centre of International Refugee Law, UNSW | Read more
Join us to make positive changes for refugees around the world.
Learn about Australia’s asylum policies and more
Statistics on offshore processing, people seeking protection in Australia | Read
Explainer on the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill 2024 | Read
Global resettlement statistics | Read
Share A Meal, Share A Story e-cookbook | More details
A mouth-watering collection of recipes from Australia’s refugee communities, encompassing cuisines from around the world. With each dish comes a special story - the story of what that dish evokes for that person. Cook these dishes for your family and friends and share the story of the person who has provided it for you.
Refugee Week email signature banner | download via Canva
Refugee Week Online meeting background | download via Canva