Statelessness Seminar Series - Dr Heli Askola

The fifth seminar in the Statelessness Seminar Series took place on 20 September, and was presented by Dr Heli Askola from Monash University.

"Applicants will need to demonstrate their integration into the Australian community'': Proposed Citizenship Changes and Refugees/Stateless Persons

Presented by - Dr Heli Askola, Monash University

According to the Federal Government’s proposed 2017 citizenship package, which will be re-introduced in 2018, applicants for citizenship by conferral would be required to show that they have ‘integrated into the Australian community’. This lecture examines the idea of integration requirements, using evidence from other jurisdictions to sketch out the meaning and scope of the concept. It analyses the background for the proposed changes and examines their possible consequences, especially for refugees/stateless persons.

Dr Heli Askola is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Monash University. Her research interests include comparative immigration and citizenship policy; labour and sexual exploitation of migrants, including trafficking in human beings; and freedom of movement and migration in the EU. She has published widely in these areas. Her publications include Citizenship and Demographic Change (Cambridge University Press, 2016) and Legal Responses to Trafficking in Women for Sexual Exploitation in the European Union (Hart Publishing, 2007).