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Feelings of disempowerment and humiliation have also led to misunderstandings between asylum seekers and the people helping them. This anecdote from Leeanne, an ASP volunteer, indicates the far-reaching impact that a lack of income can have on social interactions:

I met with an asylum seeker the other day and it was quite cold outside and he was in crisis accommodation, so he said we can't go inside. And I said, 'Well we'll just go down the road and have a cup of coffee.'

And he said, 'No I think we'll go and sit in the park if that's alright.' So we sort of shivered our way through the park. And it was lovely.

There were birds and we were talking about what sort of birds they were and everything and then when we left he said, 'I'm really sorry that I couldn't offer you a cup of coffee but I don't have the money.'

And I thought, 'What a dummy.' I didn't think to say, 'Can I offer you a cup of coffee?' I just said, 'Will we go and have a cup of coffee?' assuming that I would pay.

So every time I talk to someone, there's a little story of some sort that brings something home about their situation. And often, too, the guys are from a very conservative background, so it wouldn't have been easy for them to have me pay for a cup of coffee. They would've liked to have paid. But I just couldn't get over that I hadn't thought about that. And so then I just sort of said, 'Oh, well, I would've bought the coffee, but actually the park was much nicer because I love the birds and everything.' And he just beamed.

2. 'I AM LATE FOR MY LIFE'

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One young woman with whom the Project worked had waited a long time, and not until she finally was granted a protection visa did she feel she could begin to settle and plan for the future. But by that time, she reflected that she was of an age where she would have already been married in her home country, and she felt the cost of her years of uncertainty. At the time she was working in a petrol station. She told her caseworker:

Sometimes in the store, when it gets busy, customers get angry, they say, 'Can't you hurry up? I'm late for work!' At these times I think, 'I'm late for my life. I'm wasting years of my life waiting.'

A volunteer describes vividly the psychological effects of precariousness, penury and uncertainty about the future:

They live in constant fear of what may happen. It undermines their ability to sleep. I have seen panic attacks in both parents and children. In the case of the children they do not always know what the danger is but they know there is something to be concerned about. I have seen depression and impaired ability to act. On top of that they are in some cases so dependent that they need to change their support systems regularly because those who want to help cannot devote the amount of time they may need.

3. POLICY IN NEED OF CHANGE

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The ASP has operated with an awareness that advocating for change requires making the most of small opportunities and providing evidence of real alternatives. Working with asylum seekers in the community has provided the Project with an important opportunity to demonstrate how asylum seekers can await the outcome of a visa application while living in the community. The ASP's work with this group proved to be effective in modelling an alternative to immigration detention. It allowed the Project to demonstrate that asylum seekers can live in the community without absconding, at much less cost and without such a negative impact on health and wellbeing.

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As the staff and volunteers of the Asylum Seeker Project have encountered vulnerable asylum seekers they have developed a mode of operating which has sought to respond to the needs these clients identify. As asylum seekers engage in the lawful process of applying for protection, the Project has evolved both to address material needs brought about by the restrictions of their visas, and to provide support to ensure that protection applications are presented as effectively as possible. In doing so, the ASP has built strong, principled relationships with government and bureaucrats, and worked for structural change. Further, the ASP has not only identified areas of policy and procedure which are in need of change, but has actively conducted research and developed new models to present as alternatives.

In its support of asylum seekers, who have engaged with the immigration protection application system in an attempt to achieve a safer future, ASP has also engaged with the system as a vehicle for improving the effectiveness of that system. Significant changes have been achieved in this time - from the release of children from detention to the increasing numbers of asylum seekers granted work rights.