Objective

Provide appropriate guardianship, monitoring and settlement support arrangements for unaccompanied humanitarian minors (UHMs) in the UHM program.

Description

UHMs are non-citizen children who arrive in Australia without parents to care for them. Some UHMs have a relative over the age of 21 years to provide care and are called non-wards. UHMs who do not have a suitable relative become wards of the minister under the Immigration (Guardianship of Children) Act 1946. The minister’s functions as guardian under the Act are delegated to officers in state and territory child welfare agencies.

The Australian Government and state and territory governments work together to provide settlement services to minors who have a Humanitarian Program visa under the UHM program.

The program seeks to provide effective welfare supervision and settlement services to minors while they live in Australia or until the year they turn 18.

Performance

At 30 June 2009, there were 566 people in the UHM program, 512 of whom arrived under the offshore component of the Refugee and Humanitarian Program and another 54 who were granted Permanent Protection visas onshore.