"I spoke the truth about myself and that's when you connect with people"

Abstract

This chapter explores the negative and often punitive policy impacts on people seeking asylum who arrived in Australia by boat between 2012-2013, and the experiences of the authors in a quiet, localised, relational advocacy approach in response. This approach was adopted by the Western Australian Refugee and People Seeking Asylum Network to advocate for policy improvements at the state level, including to address some of the key negative welfare, employment and wellbeing impacts experienced by people on the temporary Safe Haven Enterprise Visa. The Network’s efforts have resulted in tangible positive policy reforms, with a significant contributing factor being the development of political allies through meetings between network members, particularly those with lived experience of seeking asylum, and Members of Parliament and other government officials. These meetings enabled connections to be established between participants, which led to Members of Parliament learning about what it is like to live on a temporary visa in Western Australia, and network members learning about how to further engage with the political system. The voices and involvement of those with lived experience of seeking asylum were central to this.