Research

Publications, Papers and Submissions

June 2026: Prof Susan Kneebone, 'Refugees and Humanitarian Admissions in Australia: between Control and Management', in Francesco Luigi Gatta and Mario Savino eds, Visas in Migration and Asylum Law: The Key that Opens the Door (Routledge 2026)
31 March 2026: Vogl A, Ogg K, Kneebone S, Government Submission, 'Submission to Australia's Humanitarian Program Discussion Paper: Submissions addressing the Redesign of the Community Support Program', Department of Home Affairs
December 2025: Refugee Survey Quarterly (vol.44 no.4) Special Issue: “Interrogating the ‘Complementarity’ of Complementary Pathways: a Transnational Evaluation of Policy and Practice”. Including:
- Susan Kneebone and Anthea Vogl: “Introduction: Interrogating the ‘Complementarity’ of Complementary Pathways”. 457-468.
- Kate Ogg: “Refugee Sponsorship’s Unrealised Objectives and Unanticipated Benefits: A New Perspective on the Meaning of “Complementary” Pathways?”. 495-523.
- Anthea Vogl: “The Expansion of Community Refugee Sponsorship: Principles for Sustainability and Australia’s Community Support Program in Review”. 524-545.
- Susan Kneebone: “New Zealand’s “Complementary” Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship: A Sustainable Community Partnership?”. 546-572.
5 November 2025: Prof Susan Kneebone and Assoc Prof Anthea Vogl presented papers on 'International comparative research on named sponsorship programs' and 'Key findings from a review of the CSP' at the Workshop on Reforming Named Community Sponsorship by invitationof Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA) and the Refugee Council of Australia.
October 2025: Prof Kate Ogg presented a paper on ‘Mobilising Whole of Society Approaches to International Protection’ at the Kaldor Centre Conference, University of New South Wales.
May 2025: Prof Kate Ogg presented a paper on 'The Precarity Continuum in Pathways to Regular Migration Status: Active Refugee Admission Policies (ARAP) and Regularisation', at the Law and Society Association Conference, Chicago.
21-23 January 2025: Professor Susan Kneebone and Associate Professor Anthea Vogl attended the International Association for the Studies of Forced Migration (IASFM) conference on Forced Displacement in an Urbanizing World in Jogjakarta Indonesia where they presented a paper on ‘Sponsors’ motives in community resettlement in New Zealand and Australia: A tale of (two) communities’ to a panel organised by Professor Kneebone on: “New frontiers of refugee hosting: relationships and emotions – comparative perspectives.”
12 October 2024: Associate Professor Anthea Vogl and Dr Nathan Gardner attended Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) Conference at Kyneton, Victoria. They gave a presentation in a session on “How does Australia’s historical race-based approach to immigration law affect how we shape change?”
2 September 2024: Dr Nathan Gardner presented the Hancock Lecture at the Australian Academy of Humanities in Sydney. The title of his lecture was “What makes a multicultural nation? The contribution of Chinese Australian communities.”
15 July 2024: Professor Susan Kneebone and Associate Professor Anthea Vogl, joint submission to the Draft Program Framework for a New Approach to Linked / Named Community Sponsorship
4 June 2024: Professors Susan Kneebone and Kate Ogg presented papers to a panel on ‘Interrogating the “Complementary” in Complementary Pathways following the Global Compacts,’ at the 8th Refugee Law Initiative Conference on ‘Pacts, Promises and Protection,’ University of London, UK, as follows (Their presentations are available here):
- Professor Susan Kneebone: ‘(Re)Settlement, Community and Private Sponsorship: Creating “Sustainable” Complementary Pathways’
- Professor Kate Ogg: ‘Pathway, Durable Solution or Tool? Harmonious and Divergent Politics underlying Community Sponsorship Pacts and the Implications for Refugee Protection’.
2 July 2024: Dr Nathan Gardner presented a paper for the 2024 Australian Historical Association Annual Conference at Flinders University, Adelaide on ‘“New Settlers Need Your Friendship!”: The Good Neighbour Councils’ Role in Building Grassroots Support for Immigration and Refugee Resettlement’.
8 March 2024: Jointly with Associate Professor Anthea Vogl, Dr Nathan Gardner made a presentation on the project at the Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA) Workshop on the Community Refugee and Integration Settlement Pilot (CRISP) Community, Kensington Town Hall.
26 October 2023: Professor Kate Ogg made a presentation on ‘The Development of Community Sponsorship Practice and Scholarship’ at the ANU’s Migration Hub Seminar Series.
4 April 2022: Professor Susan Kneebone, Professor Kate Ogg and Associate Professor Anthea Vogl gave presentations on ‘Community and Private Sponsorship of Refugee Resettlement in Australia’ at the University of Melbourne’s Law Faculty Research Seminar Series.
1 November 2022: Professor Susan Kneebone, Dr Anthea Vogl and Professor Kate wrote a blog on ‘The Evolution of Programs for Community Sponsorship of Refugees in Australia’ in Refugee Law Institute Blog on Refugee Law and Forced Migration.
30 June 2022: Professor Susan Kneebone, Professor Kate, Dr Anthea Vogl and Dr Khanh Hoang presented their papers to a panel on ‘The Role of Community Sponsorship for Refugee Resettlement in Australia: Whither State Responsibility?,’ at the 6th Refugee Law Institute Annual Conference, University of London, UK, as follows (Their presentations are available on YouTube here):
- Professor Susan Kneebone: ‘Alternative Framings of Community, Partnerships and Protection in Refugee Sponsorship Programs’
- Professor Kate Ogg: ‘Community Sponsorship Literature from the Perspective of Refugee Law Scholarship: What is Missing?’
- Dr Anthea Vogl: ‘At What Cost? Private Sponsorship of Humanitarian Entrants in Australia’
- Dr Khanh Hoang: ‘Lessons from history: The Community Refugee Settlement Scheme (CRSS)’

Events and Activities

24 February 2026: Professor Susan Kneebone, Associate Professor Anthea Vogl and Dr Nathan Gardner Molina attended CRSA Named Sponsorship Workshop: ‘Pipeline, Diversity and Intermediaries’, at the Melbourne Law School.
9 May 2025: A Workshop on ‘The Purpose, Past, Present and Future of Community Sponsorship of Refugees: Critical and Comparative Perspectives’ was held to receive feedback from an invited group of experts in the field.
8 May 2025: A Colloquium on ‘The Context and Background to “Community Sponsorship” in Australia: Refugees and Humanitarian Entrants’ was hosted and attended by stakeholders and experts in the field. Three panels broadly responded to the question: How did Australia’s current approach to community sponsorship of refugees evolve within the Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) for refugees and humanitarian entrants?
1-7 December 2024: Dr Nathan Gardner conducted a research trip to Canberra to collect materials related to CRSS policy, and the administration and program development and applications of community groups to sponsor refugees under CRSS. He also collected material related to the historical development of Australia’s migration policy.

August 2024 - February 2025: A number of interviews have been conducted with past and present Approved Partner Organisations (APOs) and Community Organisations related to the Community Support Programme (CSP) and members of the general community with historical knowledge \ experience of sponsorship.

May-June 2024:
- Professor Kate Ogg conducted interviews with civil society and scholars in UK and Ireland aiming to explore the community sponsorship situations and programs.
- Dr Anthea Vogl conducted interviews with scholars, experts and key actors who are involved in aspects of the community sponsorship program in Canada.
- Dr Nathan Gardner conducted a research trip to South Australia to collect historical materials on the Good Neighbour Council (GNC) and grassroot community groups.

3-5 June 2024: Professor Susan Kneebone and Professor Kate Ogg attended in person the 8th Refugee Law Institute Annual Conference (RLI) at University of London, UK. They presented papers to a panel on ‘Interrogating the “Complementary” in Complementary Pathways following the Global Compacts.’

6 May 2024: Dr Anthea Vogl and Dr Nathan Gardner and Professor Susan Kneebone participated in a roundtable consultation held at the Melbourne Law School, organised jointly by the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) and the Community Refugee Sponsorship Australia (CRSA) on Building a Future Named Community Sponsorship Program which involved representatives and participants from key organisations. Dr Vogl and Professor Kneebone gave presentations to the roundtable and subsequently made a joint submission to the Draft Program Framework for a New Approach to Linked / Named Community Sponsorship.

8-22 November 2023: Professor Susan Kneebone conducted interviews with government officials, scholars, civil societies and sponsors in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand.

September 2023: Dr Nathan Gardner conducted a research trip to Canberra to collect historical materials on the 1977-8 Review of Post-Arrival Programs and Services to Migrants (Galbally Review) and the Good Neighbour Council.
29 June – 1 July 2022: Professor Susan Kneebone, Professor Kate, Dr. Anthea Vogl and Dr. Khanh Hoang attended the 6th Refugee Law Institute Annual Conference, organised online by University of London, UK. They presented a paper to a panel on: ‘The Role of Community Sponsorship for Refugee Resettlement in Australia: Whither State Responsibility?’