CQU Research Fellow Dr Susan Rees has issued a statement on behalf of the Rural Australians for Refugees (RAR) network, reacting cautiously to changes to visa arrangements.

Dr Rees said the visa changes would allow more than 9000 Temporary Protection Visa holders to apply for permanent residency in Australia.

"While the new provisions appear to offer some hope of a secure future to refugees working and living in rural communities, RAR representatives have expressed concern that significant numbers of TVP holders could fail to meet the requirements of the offered mainstream Migration Visas," Dr Rees said.

"People in rural Australia have seen the contribution that refugees have made to their towns and have taken them into their hearts. It's time the government acknowledged this and gave all TPV holders the opportunity for genuine security by offering them permanent residency.

"The new provisions, while they may be a step in the right direction, fail to relieve this uncertainty and merely prolong the limbo in which refugees have already been living for long periods. They also fail to address the needs of the hundreds of people on short-term Bridging Visas and the numerous others who are held unnecessarily in harsh conditions of detention.".

Dr Rees, based at the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research at CQU Mackay, has studied the effects of prolonged uncertain residency status on the well-being of refugees. She is currently working with colleagues from UNSW on a research project concerned with young East Timorese asylum seekings, trauma and resettlement.

"While the East Timorese study is current, my previous research with East Timorese asylum seekers demonstrated the serious mental health consequences of prolonged periods of uncertainty for asylum seekers and refugees who do not have permanent status.

"Refugees have by definition experienced persecution and a prerequisite to recovery from trauma is to have a safe and secure future. Living with uncertainty, as remains the current situation for refugees under this government, is deleterious to their well-being and jeopardises their successful resettlement.".

RAR is a grassroots advocacy network, with groups in Mackay and 85 other towns across Australia, and with over 12,000 active supporters.