Hoax refugee email

Letter to the Editor - The Chronicle
21 July 2008

Dear Sir/Madam

In response to the letter from Ms L Spain (Refugees get more money than aged, Letters, 21/07/08), regarding a claim that more monthly assistance is provided to refugee entrants than to pensioners, let me say that there is no truth to the report.

Your reader, like many other Australians, has fallen victim to a hoax email which has been circulating for some time, and has been debunked many times.

The monthly allowance figures quoted in the letter bear no resemblance to the payments provided to single people under Australia’s income support system, or to payments available to asylum seekers under the Asylum Seeker Assistance scheme.

The text and figures used in the letter appear in a number of Canadian emails, websites and internet chatrooms which attribute the complaint to Canada's payments to refugees and pensioners.  This suggests that the complaint neither originated in, nor originally related to, Australia.

In Australia’s case, refugees granted permanent visas are permanent residents, and can gain access to Centrelink benefits if they need them on the same basis and at the same rates as any other Australian permanent resident.

Sandi Logan
National Communications Manager,
Department of Immigration and Citizenship