In 1981 the Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) was introduced to assist people who did not fit neatly into the refugee category, but who were subject to human rights abuses and had family or community ties with Australia. The new humanitarian visa system is designed to encourage asylum seekers to remain in their country of first asylum, rather than seeking the assistance of people smugglers to abandon or by-pass effective protection opportunities in order to obtain a preferred migration outcome.

If you entered Australia on a humanitarian visa, you are a humanitarian entrant. You may be a refugee and a permanent resident too. The visa you hold will determine what government settlement services are available to you. The system provides for a hierarchy of benefits depending on where they have made their application and whether a person has moved from a country of first asylum.

Temporary protection
In October 1999, the Howard Government introducedTemporary Protection Visas (TPVs) for asylum seekers who arrive unauthorised and are subsequently assessed bythe Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) to be refugees.18Before then,all refugees, including unauthorised arrivals found to berefugees were given immediate access to permanent protection visas (PPVs).

Entitlements
Holders of a subclass 451 visa or a subclass 447 visa are:

• Able to gain access to Medicare benefits;

• Able to work and receive Job Matching from Centrelink.

• Eligible for referral to the early health assessment and intervention program;

• Eligible for Special Benefit, Rent Assistance, Family Tax Benefit, Child Care Benefit, Double Orphan Pension, Maternity Allowance and Maternity Immunisation Allowance. (Any Special Benefit entitlement is stringently means-tested and is reviewed every 13 weeks);

• Eligible for torture and trauma counselling;