Quicker refugee claims process to snuff out false ones

The federal government wants to speed up the refugee assessment process. (Con Chronis/AAP PHOTOS)

The Albanese government is cracking down on false asylum seeker claims that divert resources from genuine refugees, as it chips away at a huge application backlog.

Protracted visa processing times mean unworthy candidates could live and work in Australia for up to 11 years as false claims go through the immigration system.

In response, the Labor government will snuff out bogus protection claims by investing almost $160 million in three measures to speed up processing.

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia will receive $57 million for more judges to decide claims, with another $48 million for legal services and $54 million for the Department of Home Affairs to process protection visa applications and clear its burgeoning backlog.

"We're making sure people with genuine claims get them assessed quickly so they can enjoy the benefits of refugee protection," Immigration Minister Andrew Giles told Seven's Sunrise program on Thursday.

"We're taking away the incentive that has allowed the grotesque exploitation of too many people in Australia".

Minister for Immigration Andrew Giles (file)
Andrew Giles says the government will invest almost $160 million to speed up processing.

An additional 10 members will join the tribunal and another 10 judges will be added to the Federal Circuit and Family Courts.

Settlement Services International, which aids refugees and asylum seekers with the resettlement process in Australia, commended the quicker and fairer processing of asylum claims.

"As an organisation that supports tens of thousands of refugees to begin new lives in Australia each year, we welcome any change that will uphold the integrity of the asylum process and enable faster processing for people seeking safety from war and persecution," chief executive Violet Roumeliotis told AAP.

"People seeking asylum in Australia should have their applications for protection dealt with in a procedurally fair and timely manner."

Ms Roumeliotis said any efforts to expedite the process will "reduce the negative impacts of prolonged uncertainty on the lives of people seeking asylum, their families and their communities".

Protesters during a Refugee Action Coalition Palm Sunday march
More than 70,000 asylum seekers are waiting for applications to be processed.

The Refugee Council of Australia said about 70,000 asylum seekers were waiting for decisions on applications between the Home Affairs Department, the tribunal and the courts.

It explained that an initial decision takes an average of nearly two and half years, a merit-based review by the tribunal more than three and a half years and appeals at court level over five years.

"More prompt decisions on onshore protection visa applications will, over time, reduce the number of people left without access to the support available to permanent residents and citizens of Australia," the council's CEO Paul Power said.

Hannah Dickinson, principal solicitor at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said addressing delays was a good first step but argued "to succeed, it is critical the government ends the untenable politicisation of refugee policy”.

The government's action comes after a review of the immigration system by former Victorian police commissioner Christine Nixon found criminals had exploited gaps and weaknesses to set up human trafficking and sexual slavery rackets and commit other crimes.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has made efforts to distinguish between real asylum seekers and those abusing the system.

"The people who suffer most from the problems in our protection visa system today are the people who have a genuine asylum claim," she said.

"They are shoved in the queue with all of these other people who don't have a genuine claim and they're made to wait."

On Wednesday, she lambasted former immigration minister turned opposition leader Peter Dutton for overseeing a broken migration system under his watch.

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